Results 13,701-13,720 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Under the current law the proportion of male and female local authority representatives on a VEC must mirror the proportion of the total number of male and female members of those county, city and town districts when added together. The existing system has given rise to practical difficulties, particularly where a number of bodies come together to elect people to one board. Difficulties at...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Sometimes one can lead by example and sometimes one can make something a prerequisite. To take the scenario the Senator mentioned, if the female member of whatever caucus simply refused for a variety of reasons, there would be other females available from, perhaps, a different caucus who would get it. Practice varies in different local authorities. In some cases, the practice is winner...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: It is.

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: This is a typographical correction. It changes the word "paragraph" to "paragraphs".

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: And to ensure consistency.

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: We will note the Senators' comments and come back to them on Report Stage in respect of this matter.

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Until they try it.

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I was not present for the debate on Second State, so I wish to elaborate on a couple of matters now. I am concerned to have legislation which will be fit for purpose in 20 or 30 years' time. The reality is that we have a public private partnership in education. The public side is the State, which sets the curriculum, pays salaries, regulates the examination process, etc. At primary level...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: This is a technical amendment.

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: No. It would be like a constituency, in that there would be a by-election in the panel.

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: That point will be clarified in the regulations, but the intent is that the panel cannot be bypassed. I will clarify the issue and revert to the Senator on Report Stage.

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to bring to the House's attention two issues, the first of which I missed because we were moving so quickly. We will introduce amendments to section 51 relating to accounts and accountability. They will ensure that, in the transition from vocation education committees, VECs, to education and training boards, ETBs, there will be no gap in the obligation to file accounts and to respond...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: From memory, there are five more CEOs than there are formally established ETBs, of which there are 16. There is a surplus. The panel of existing CEOs has been frozen. Different jobs have been contracted for current CEOs who, as they did not qualify under the process of selection, will no longer be super CEOs in the new configuration. It was a combination of seniority and choice. This...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I have noted the Senator's comments. I am reluctant to get into that space, as it is close to IR-type operations and we have not yet resolved the situation for all of the confirmed CEOs who have not been accommodated. I am conscious that I am not just speaking to the House, but to people who are following this debate with a certain degree of scrutiny. With my full blessing, my Department's...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The pools will be fundamentally transformed. There are currently 33 pools but there will be 16 education and training boards, ETBs. I will refer to the Senator's example theoretically rather than in a personal way, and the person will now see a combination of three VECs go to one education and training board. It would be up to the incoming chief executive of the larger education and...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: In the case of four people, arrangements have been made where the Department has asked the people to take on specific tasks that we need them to do.

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: They will not be like the ghost at the wedding.

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: There are one or two outstanding issues where final resolution has not yet been found but the matter is ongoing. There are tasks that must be done, as this is a massive transformative set of reforms that will bed down 16 new entities across 33 areas. That will take time, and we have asked people to carry out certain tasks; we had discussions with the various people who were permanent CEOs...

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I do not want to offer a guess but I can get the figure for the Senator. It is approximately ten.

Seanad: Education and Training Boards Bill 2012: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: We are trying to reduce the total number in the public service and Civil Service. Any incoming chief executive charged with bringing together two or three VECs with different systems and, in some cases, slightly different cultures will make use of all available talent. It is a managerial function with which the Department does not want to become involved. We have had to resolve the issue...