Results 13,901-13,920 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments Data (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department is in the process of finalising an exercise to establish the level of provision required at primary and post-primary level, based on the most up to date demographic data available. In this regard, the Department uses a Geographical Information System (GIS) to identify where the pressure for additional school places will arise. The GIS uses data from the Central Statistics...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Under my Department's student grant scheme, eligible candidates may receive funding provided they are attending an approved course at an approved institution as defined in the Student Grant scheme. Private colleges such as Griffith College, operated on a for-profit basis are not listed as approved institutions for student grant purposes. However, tax relief on tuition fees may be...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Extra Curricular Activities (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The DES does not have a policy that streams students/pupils into ability groups for sports based on ability. All PE lessons are normally mixed ability. Differentiation should be based on the outcomes of teaching and learning and should ensure that all students are sufficiently challenged and can experience success at their particular level. Students/pupils with special educational...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I wish to advise the Deputy that the policy of my Department is that children with special educational needs, including children with autism, should be included where possible and appropriate in mainstream placements with additional supports provided. In circumstances where children with special educational need require more specialised interventions, special school or special class places...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Standards are established for new syllabuses in Ireland in advance of examining. The approach taken is sometimes described as a "college of professionals" approach. In the first instance, a group of people who are deemed to have an expert knowledge of what the students in the target audience ought to be able to achieve in the subject concerned reach a consensus regarding the content...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Psychological Assessments (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I can inform the Deputy that my Department's National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides educational psychology service to all primary and post primary schools through an assigned NEPS psychologist and in some cases through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA), full details of which are on the Department's website. Under this scheme schools can have an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I wish to advise the Deputy that the school to which she refers has made an application to my Department for capital funding for the provision of additional accommodation. The application is being considered and a decision will be conveyed to the school as soon as the assessment process has been concluded.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme Eligibility (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The six month unemployed requirement specified in relation to the VTOS programme is predicated on the person having been unemployed during this entire period. To facilitate people who may have been working part time, the six month qualifying period, which is 156 days, can be accumulated within a period of 52 weeks subject to certain conditions. This information is available on my...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: As part of a comprehensive customer service and communications strategy provided by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), to ensure that all necessary avenues are open to applicants to receive the information they need, a dedicated email and phone line service is provided by SUSI for Oireachtas members. This was established to meet an identified need for applicants who choose to engage...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The National Council for Special Education (NCSE), through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is responsible for processing applications from primary and post primary schools for special educational needs supports, including the establishment of special classes in various geographical areas as required. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The capital funding issued to schools in the primary and post-primary sectors in County Cork in the years 2011 to 2015 is as follows: PRIMARY 2011 - €24.8m 2012 - €23.8m 2013 - €31.1m 2014 - €37.4m 2015 - €13.0m POST-PRIMARY 2011 - €6.4m 2012 - €7.0m 2013 - €14.2m 2014 - €16.2m 2015 - €26.3m It is not possible to provide...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments Data (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department's latest published projections of primary pupil enrolment indicate a pupil increase of the order of some 29,000 pupils between 2014/15 and 2018/19. These projections are published on my Department's website. My Department is currently reviewing the latest nationwide demographic data to assess where further additional provision may be required at primary level. As the Deputy...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Institutions Staff (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Since the introduction of the moratorium on public sector recruitment, an Employment Control Framework (ECF) has been in place for the higher education sector which provides institutions with considerable flexibility to fill vacancies, through recruitment or promotions on the basis of meeting an overall ceiling of posts. Under this Framework the re-employment of retired staff should only...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Residential Institutions (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Caranua is an independent statutory body established under the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012. Decisions of Caranua may be appealed to the independent Appeals Officer appointed under section 21 of the 2012 Act. The Appeals Officer has dealt with 82 cases to date. The 2014 annual report of the Appeals Officer is in the public domain and can be accessed at www.caranua.ie....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2015, which was published in April of this year and is on the Government's legislative programme for enactment in this session, introduces a number of important changes to make enrolment policies fairer and more transparent. These changes include new powers for the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and the Child and Family Agency to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has no record of receiving an application for additional accommodation from the school in question. It is open to the school to submit an application if they have identified a deficit of classroom accommodation to meet increasing enrolments or to accommodate an additional teacher appointment. Application forms can be accessed on my Department's...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Site Acquisitions (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: As the Deputy is aware, my Department is working closely with Cork County Council under the Memorandum of Understanding for the acquisition of school sites, towards the acquisition of a permanent site to meet the needs of the school to which he refers. The acquisition of the site is advancing and once it is complete, the school building project will be progressed into architectural planning.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: As the Deputy is aware the school, referred to, is situated on a split campus with the senior school sharing a campus with another primary school. While the school, in question, was approved funding in 2012 under the Prefab Replacement Scheme, the school authorities submitted an alternative proposal to provide all of the proposed replacement accommodation on the senior school's site,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The project to which the Deputy refers is a devolved project being delivered by Louth County Council. The project is at the early stages of architectural planning and the commencement of construction will be dependent on the progress of the project through the various stages of design and the Local Authority planning process.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staffing (3 Nov 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Special Need Assistants resources are allocated to schools by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). In the case referred to by the Deputy, no sanction has been received in the Payroll Division of my Department as of the 2 November 2015 for an increase in the allocation of Special need assistant hours for the school. If there is a decision made to alter the hours allocated to...