Results 15,001-15,020 of 16,057 for speaker:Mary Coughlan
- Teaching Qualifications (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: There is currently no regulation and this means that unqualified and unregistered teachers can teach. We are introducing legislation to stop this. Many Members opposite are members of the teaching profession and know that the situation can arise where a qualified teacher is not available at short notice. I am proposing regulations arising from the discussions in the House on the Education...
- Teaching Qualifications (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: It would be very easy for me to sign off on the amendment to the Education Act but I would then have a problem with regard to schools because of the legacy issue of a number of teachers as regards their employment rights-----
- Teaching Qualifications (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: It is not a lot of teachers; it is a number of teachers. This matter will be dealt with through the historical situation-----
- Teaching Qualifications (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: I am not undermining it . I am regularising the situation because it is not currently regulated. I will be particularly specific on the time and circumstances when an unqualified person will be allowed to teach. Every effort must be made to ensure that a qualified teacher is available.
- Teaching Qualifications (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: I have heard the Deputies opposite say over the years that situations can occur when unqualified persons are employed as teachers. I do not wish to send children home and I am sure none of the Deputies opposite want that either.
- Teaching Qualifications (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: It is not the Minister or the Department who employs retired teachers.
- Teaching Qualifications (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: The principal or the board of management-----
- Teaching Qualifications (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: I have done so. I have issued a circular. A number of boards of management are not particularly enamoured with my circular that retired teachers, in the main, should not be employed. There is an abatement of their pay. I do not think there is a man or woman in this House who disagrees with the fact that younger teachers who are unemployed should be -----
- Teaching Qualifications (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: The Deputy is incorrect. The situation is that I have issued a circular to indicate that it is clearly my view and that of the Department that those unqualified teachers and retired teachers should not be an option for classrooms.
- School Staffing (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: Retirements at primary level since the introduction of the moratorium in March 2009 were 458 principals, 386 deputy principals, 211 assistant principals and 343 teachers with special duties posts of responsibility. The equivalent figures for the post primary sector were approximately 159 principals, 132 deputy principals, 1,172 assistant principals and 302 teachers with special duties posts...
- School Staffing (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: As I indicated, many other sectors have a moratorium. We are in a position to replace teachers, including some posts of responsibility, where there is a need for alleviation. A number of schools lost most of their post holders as a consequence of retirements and we had to bring in at least a base where that work needed to be done. Since 2009, there has been a reduction in the number of...
- School Staffing (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: The total estimated cost of posts of responsibility is â¬236 million. I do not take from the valuable work done on a voluntary basis by many who hold no post of responsibility, and who are usually the ones who are enthusiastic enough never to bother about such posts and go out to do the school plays, the music-----
- School Staffing (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: There are plenty of those, which is very good. This is the type of thing we will have to instill in life, in society and in the community as opposed to having people being paid to be a volunteer. There are other responsibilities which require administrative time, and I do not take from that. However, what we are trying to ensure is that at the least we meet a minimum requirement so the...
- Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: The Deputy will appreciate that I am not in a position to comment on the specifics of budgetary matters in advance of its formal announcement. The Deputy will be aware however that the â¬8.59 billion current expenditure allocation for my Department for 2010 accounts for some 16% of Government gross voted current expenditure (the third largest after Social Protection and Health). Almost 75%...
- Written Answers — Ministerial Travel: Ministerial Travel (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: The Government recently published its five year international education strategy, Investing in Global Relationships, which outlines the strategic importance of international students to the Irish economy, and to long-term business relationships with our current and future trading partners. The USA remains the single most important country of origin for international students in Irish higher...
- Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: The Exchequer expenditure figures for October 2010 were published last week. Education capital expenditure of â¬456m (including â¬75m Capital carryover) is running â¬102m behind profile at present. The school building budget is less than â¬50million behind profile. The substantial reduction in construction prices has meant that my Department is achieving greater value for taxpayers'...
- Written Answers — Programme for Government: Programme for Government (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: The Renewed Programme for Government was agreed in October 2009 and significant progress has been made since then in delivering on the twenty-seven commitments contained in the programme relating to my Department. My Department has a significant role to play in relation to another eleven commitments that are the lead responsibility of other Government Departments. The programme is intended to...
- Written Answers — Departmental Reports: Departmental Reports (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: While the Cromien Report contained a wide range of recommendations it is important to stress that the report was discursive in nature and in some instances presented a range of options for further consideration. For this reason defining the precise number of recommendations is not a clear cut task but it would be fair to say that there are in the order of 80 recommendations and my...
- Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: The Government has decided to reduce the overall number of VECs from 33 to 16 and to merge particular city and or county VECs. Implementation of these changes will be carried out by officials of my Department working directly with the VECs and other stakeholders. This project will have a timeframe for implementation of approximately 18 months. Many of the detailed aspects of the...
- Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (9 Nov 2010)
Mary Coughlan: The Deputy will appreciate that the preparation of the Budget is carried out on a strictly confidential basis and as a result it would not be appropriate for me to comment specifically on this matter in advance of the formal announcements involved. The Government has made it clear that difficult decisions will be necessary across the broad spectrum of public expenditure in order to secure the...