Results 13,601-13,620 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Public Private Partnerships. (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: It is also important to recognise that the value can only be assessed over a period of 25 years and the way in which the risks were transferred has to be considered. These will be accelerated projects and might not have been delivered as quickly under our own capital programme. Equally it must be considered that management is built into the project. This must all be taken into account when...

Public Private Partnerships. (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: I do not want to mislead the Deputy. I will return to the Deputy with confirmation.

University Status. (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The report prepared by Dr. Jim Port of J M Consulting on the application from Waterford Institute of Technology for designation as a university under section 9 of the Universities Act 1997, is available on my Department's website since this morning. I was wondering why the Leas-Cheann Comhairle wanted to get to the question. Waterford Institute of Technology is a very important institution...

University Status. (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The reason the report has been published today is because it was cleared by Government just yesterday. Any consideration of a university for anywhere, be it the Dublin Institute of Technology or the Waterford Institute of Technology, must be based on very strict academic criteria, on the case made for the region, as the Deputy said and must be considered in the context of national education...

University Status. (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The increased participation rate is very good. County Wexford is above average.

University Status. (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: I must correct myself, it is on the average figure.

University Status. (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: If one was starting again, one would probably not put the universities where they are now but we are where we are and it is not fair to tell us to look at a map. However, with regard to Waterford I understand the great demand in the area but the Deputy is showing a scant lack of knowledge about the process. I do not have the say; I do not designate universities. One of the great provisions...

University Status. (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The Deputy is misinformed. Neither does the Cabinet have a say. That power was taken away under the Education Act. A process must be undergone with regard to academic criteria——

University Status. (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: ——and all the other criteria set in the context of policy. My views do not matter in this regard. The power to designate a third level institution, by whatever status, is no longer the power of the Minister and this is as it should be.

University Status. (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: We do not have that power.

Written Answers — Physical Education Facilities: Physical Education Facilities (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The Physical Education curriculum has been designed on the basis that facilities in schools may vary, depending on the size of the school and the extent of the site. Many primary schools have a general purpose room and practically all schools have outdoor play areas which are used for teaching different aspects of the PE programme. A similar situation with sports halls and outdoor facilities...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The demand for additional accommodation in schools has risen significantly over the last number of years mainly due to the rapid expansion in teacher numbers particularly in the area of special needs, the growth in the school-going population in rapidly developing areas, including the impact of immigration, and the demands to cater for diversity through the recognition of new Gaelscoileanna...

Written Answers — Education Convention: Education Convention (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The issues around future governance and management in the primary school system, in the context of changing circumstances, are the subject of dialogue on an ongoing basis with each of the patron bodies, management bodies and education partners. Education issues have also featured strongly in the ongoing structured dialogue between the Government, churches, faith communities and...

Written Answers — Early School Leavers: Early School Leavers (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: I am pleased to confirm to the Deputy that it is my intention to publish a Data Strategy for my Department, covering the 2008 to 2010 period, in March 2008. The Data Strategy will provide an important contribution to the ongoing development of the evidence-base for education policy over the coming years. Making better use of existing data as well as introducing new and essential sources of...

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: My first priority in relation to improving the cash flow for schools is to increase the level of funding to them. Improving the funding for schools is a central part of the education provisions in the Programme for Government. The Programme contains the commitment by Government that the capitation grant for primary schools will be doubled. My Department will be paying around €167m to...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 111 and 124 together. Under the terms of my Department's student grant schemes, the position is that students who are entering approved courses for the first time are eligible for grants where they satisfy the prescribed conditions with regard to age, residence, means, nationality and previous academic attainment. Students are categorised according to their...

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The Deputy will be aware that major improvements have been made in staffing at primary level in recent years. There are now in the region of 6,000 more primary teachers than there were in 2002. By the 2006/07 school year, we had reduced the average class size in our primary schools to 24, while the pupil teacher ratio was 16.4:1, including resource teachers etc. In that year, schools were...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The National Council for Special Education is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers, for allocating special needs assistants (SNAs) to schools and for reviewing such allocations. Special needs Assistants are intended to support children who have care needs arising from a disability. There are currently in excess of 9,800 special needs assistants in...

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The Deputy will be aware that all primary and post primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA). The SCPA was established, pending the expansion to all schools of the service provided by NEPS psychologists, specifically to undertake...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (20 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The school authority in question has submitted an application to my Department for a new school. Applications for large scale capital funding are assessed and banded in accordance with published prioritisation criteria. These criteria were agreed following consultation with the Education Partners and the progression of individual projects is considered in the context of the multi-annual...