Results 14,581-14,600 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Admissions Entry Requirements (11 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The Disability Access Route to Education (DARE) is a third-level admissions scheme for students with a disability. The scheme is operated by a number of higher education institutions and not by my Department. Admissions to the institutions are regulated by the institutions themselves. The Deputy may wish to contact the Irish Universities Association in this instance. Further details in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Site Acquisitions (12 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that a site for the school to which he refers was acquired by my Department in November 2012.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Value for Money Reviews (12 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The information is being compiled and will be sent to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staffing (12 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to set out the clear position of the Department and the employers regarding June working for Special Needs Assistants employed in the post-primary sector. The contract for Special Needs Assistants in the post primary sector (DES Circular SNA12/05) specifically requires that SNAs are required to work the month of June on examinations and work appropriate to the grade including training....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Applications (12 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that the school projects announced as part of the Government's "Investing in Infrastructure & Jobs" Package last week are school projects that have completed extensive architectural planning already and which my Department has identified can progress to tender and construction before end year. In relation to the school, referred to the Deputy, I am aware...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Administration (12 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: In common with the rest of the Public Sector, capital works projects in schools are tendered under the standard Public Works Contracts as required by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Government Contracts Committee for Construction (GCCC). The Guidelines require a competitive process carried out in an open, objective and transparent manner to achieve best value for money...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Residential Institutions Redress Scheme (12 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The Residential Institutions Redress Board was established pursuant to the Residential Institutions Redress Act, 2002 to provide fair and reasonable financial awards to victims of childhood abuse in scheduled institutions. The Board operates independently and the application process is confidential in accordance with the terms of the 2002 Act. Therefore, I am not in a position to comment on...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations Issues (12 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I will not be seeking a moratorium on media coverage during the State examinations. It is important that the examinations are seen to be open and transparent and that is why, for example, the papers are available to everyone on the SEC website www.examinations.ie the evening of the examination. Apart from the difficulty in trying to secure a moratoirum on coverage in the newspapers, radio and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Applications (12 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Students commencing a new course in the academic year 2013/14 are required to submit their grant application to Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) via www.susi.ie. to have their eligibility for grant assistance assessed. To satisfy the terms and conditions of the student grant scheme in relation to progression, a student must be moving from year to year within a course having...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Administration (12 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Officials in my Department have confirmed with Student Universal Support Ireland that in the case of the student referred to by the Deputy, his student grant application was appealed on the 29th May 2013 to the appeals officer in SUSI. On that basis, the application is currently being reassessed and the student will be notified directly by SUSI of the outcome.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Redundancy Payments (12 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: A redundancy application from the person referred to by the Deputy was received by my Department on 8th November 2012. Applications are processed in date order of receipt and every effort is being made to process these applications as quickly as possible. The application from the person referred to is currently being processed and it is expected that they will receive payment in July 2013.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: State Examinations Issues (12 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I thank the Senators for raising the matter. At the start of these exams I stated that while 116,000 young students sit them at least 500,000 relatives, parents, brothers, sisters and everybody else do the exams alongside them, so this is a much bigger issue. It is not unique to this country, but it certainly generates far more coverage than would normally be the case. I will ensure the...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: State Examinations Issues (12 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I thank the two Senators again for raising this matter in the Seanad. I will bring the details of this debate directly to the attention of the chairman and the chief executive of the SEC. I will also ask them to indicate the steps they propose to take to make sure that the concerns expressed about the errors in the mathematics paper in particular, in addition to the other errors, can be...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (13 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the school building project referred to was included in the €50 million investment in new school building projects recently announced as part of the Government's "Investing in Infrastructure & Jobs" Package. The project is at an advanced stage of architectural planning with the design team currently working on the completion of stage...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staffing (13 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that the NCSE, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is responsible for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports, including the allocation of resource teachers and Special Needs Assistants to schools. The NCSE operates within my Department's established criteria for the allocation of Special...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (13 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts for the 2013/2014 school year is set out in the Staffing Schedule (Circular 0013/2013) which is available on the Department website. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Appeals (13 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Officials in my Department have confirmed with Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) that the applicant referred to by the Deputy was issued with a decision on the 25th February, 2013 advising him that he was deemed ineligible to receive a grant. SUSI also confirmed that to date they have received no appeal from the applicant. If an individual applicant considers that she/he has been...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (13 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy is aware, on 10th June 2013 I announced a further initiative to replace prefab units in schools with permanent accommodation. A total of €15 million has been allocated in 2013/14 to replace prefabs and provide permanent classrooms and resource rooms for some 2,650 students. Schools being considered under this scheme, including the schools referred to by the Deputy, have...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (13 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is at an advanced stage of architectural planning. The project has been authorised to proceed to Stage 2(b) which includes applications for Planning Permission, Fire Safety Certificate, Disability Access Certificate and the preparation of tender documents. The project is listed on the five year school building programme to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (13 Jun 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is at an advanced stage of architectural planning. In May 2013, the Department authorised the project to proceed to Stage 2b which includes applications for Planning Permission, Fire Safety Certificate, Disability Access Certificate and the preparation of tender documents. The project is listed on the five year school...