Results 1,301-1,320 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — School Enrolments: School Enrolments (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: My Department is considering the results of recent revisions to projections of future enrolment in the light of demographic and social changes as well as the publication, by the CSO, of new population projections in December 2004. As the Deputy will appreciate, uncertainties arise in regard to future migration trends, participation at various levels of education and long-term trends in...

Written Answers — Education Welfare Service: Education Welfare Service (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Since its formal launch in December 2003, the aim of the National Educational Welfare Board has been to provide a service to the most disadvantaged areas and most at risk groups. A total of five regional teams have been established with bases in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. Staff have been deployed in areas of greatest disadvantage and in areas designated under the...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: An extension project at the school has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria, and the project is being considered in the context of the school buildings and modernisation programme. The upgrade of the science laboratories will be addressed as part of the overall project for which schedules of accommodation have been agreed with the school. The Deputy will be...

Written Answers — State Examinations: State Examinations (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The most recently published analysis by my Department of retention rates at second level which was released in August 2003, indicates that for the 1994 cohort of students, the adjusted senior cycle retention rate is 81.8%. My Department's approach to addressing the issue of retention in schools comprises legislative and curricular reforms as well as interventions to prevent early school...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: My Department is actively engaged in a number of activities relating to the teaching and learning of Irish. These include a focused evaluation of Irish, along with English or mathematics, in 45 primary schools and an evaluation of the teaching and learning of Irish in the junior cycle in 75, or 10%, of post-primary schools. Both of these programmes of inspections will be completed in 2005 and...

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The educational psychologists in the National Educational Psychological Service do not keep waiting lists of children requiring assessment in the sense of lists of names that are dealt with in chronological order. School authorities refer children for assessment and discuss the relative urgency of each case during the psychologists' visits. An overall account of current waiting lists, as...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The Government took a decision in 1998 that has transformed the level of provision for pupils with special educational needs, including those with mild and borderline mild general learning disabilities. Pupils with such needs would be entitled to an automatic response to meet those needs and the allocation of resources to meet those needs no longer depended, as it had in the past, on the...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: My Department has received an application for an additional resource teacher post for Traveller pupils from the school in question. A decision on the application will be conveyed to the school as soon as the application has been considered. I understand that the school currently has the services of a resource teacher for Traveller pupils.

Written Answers — Educational Disadvantage: Educational Disadvantage (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: A review of educational disadvantage programmes is currently being finalised by my Department and any decision to expand or extend any of the initiatives aimed at addressing educational disadvantage is being considered in this context. Arising from the review process, a draft report has been prepared and it is my intention to complete this work as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Bullying in Schools: Bullying in Schools (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I am acutely aware of the issue of bullying in schools and my Department has in place a multi-faceted strategy to tackle the issue. The education of students in both primary and post-primary schools on anti-bullying behaviour is a central part of the social, personal and health education, SPHE, curriculum. SPHE is now a compulsory subject at primary level and in the junior cycle of...

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: An application for refurbishment has been received from the school to which the Deputy refers. This application has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria, which were revised following consultation with the education partners. Progress on this project is being considered in the context of the school building programme. I have recently made a series of...

Written Answers — Traffic Calming Measures. : Traffic Calming Measures. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: My Department does not provide funding for pedestrian crossings at primary schools. The provision of a pedestrian crossing is a matter for the relevant local authority.

Written Answers — Departmental Staff. : Departmental Staff. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The information requested by the Deputy is being compiled in my Department and will be provided as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Departmental Staff. : Departmental Staff. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The information requested by the Deputy is being compiled in my Department and will be forwarded as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Ministerial Responsibilities: Ministerial Responsibilities (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The practice in my Department is for all formal legal contracts to be entered into in the name of the Minister rather than the Department. This is because under the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924 the Minister for Education is recognised as a body corporate and is the legal personification of the Department.

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Every effort is made to ensure that children with special educational needs receive an education appropriate to their needs. Decisions regarding the most appropriate model of response in each particular case are based on the professionally assessed needs of the individual child. Current provision for pupils with autism include: the creation of 141 special classes for children with autism...

Written Answers — Teachers' Remuneration: Teachers' Remuneration (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: My Department is currently devising the qualifying criteria for the award of incremental credit to special needs assistants. The application for incremental credit from the person referred to by the Deputy will be considered when this process has been completed. A decision on the application will be conveyed to the person concerned as quickly as possible thereafter.

Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The property management section of the OPW, which acts on behalf of my Department in site acquisitions generally, is continuing to explore the possibility of acquiring a site for Kill national school, Kill, County Kildare. Due to the commercial sensitivities of site acquisitions it is not proposed at this stage to identify specific sites to be acquired.

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Every effort is made to ensure that children with special educational needs receive an education appropriate to their needs. Decisions regarding the most appropriate model of response in each particular case are based on the professionally assessed needs of the individual child. Children who have been assessed as having special educational needs have access to a range of special support...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Between 1998 and 2004 over €920 million has been invested on primary educational infrastructure relating to individual building projects, site purchases, dust, asbestos and radon remediation programmes, science initiatives, contingency, furniture and equipment. This investment has delivered 84 new school buildings, over 350 large scale refurbishment and extension projects, over 6,000...