Results 15,241-15,260 of 16,057 for speaker:Mary Coughlan

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (18 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: 2057The Deputy will be aware that the Home Tuition scheme provides funding to parents to provide education at home for children who, for a number of reasons such as chronic illness, are unable to attend school. The scheme was extended in recent years to facilitate tuition for children awaiting a suitable educational placement. Parents engage tutors directly; the grant is paid in advance to...

Written Answers — Computerisation Programme: Computerisation Programme (18 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: 2057As part of the implementation of the Smart Schools = Smart Economy Report and the 2008 ICT Strategy Report, I recently announced ICT grants of almost €21 millon for post primary schools. The school referred to by the Deputy received a grant of €12,232. This grant may be used by the school to work towards equipping each classroom in the school with a teaching computer, with a long...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (18 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: 2057I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the school building project to which she refers, was recently authorised to proceed to tender. It is envisaged that the tender process will be complete in quarter 2 of 2011.

Written Answers — Third Level Courses: Third Level Courses (18 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: 2057I propose to take Questions Nos. 69 and 70 together. The information requested by the deputy is not available on an annual basis because the underlying population data required to calculate participation rates is not collected on an annual basis. The HEA Report “Who went to College in 2004, A National Survey of New Entrants to Higher Education”, which is based on data from the...

Written Answers — School Enrolments: School Enrolments (18 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: 2057The collection and processing of the National School Annual Census forms is currently taking place. Enrolment data for the 2010/2011 school year will be published in September 2011. Extensive information is available on my Department's website in relation to school enrolments for the 2009/2010 school year.

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (18 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: 2057As requested by the Deputy, the following table provides details of the number of new student grant applications received and the number of grants awarded to date for the 2010/11 academic year. The number of applications where grant awarding authorities have yet to commence processing is also included. It should be noted that the difference between the number of new grant applications...

Order of Business (23 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: We are in from Donegal where I did not see Deputy Shatter.

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (23 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: Under the terms of my Department's student grant and free fees schemes, students who are entering approved courses for the first time are eligible for grants and free tuition fees where they satisfy the prescribed conditions of the individual schemes, including those relating to progression. In general, students who previously pursued a course of study are not eligible for grant assistance...

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (23 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: As the Deputy will be aware from my response of 5 October 2010, the school to which he refers wrote to my Department seeking a devolved grant to provide additional accommodation at the school. In response, the Department has made a proposal to the school to alleviate some of the immediate issues faced by the school. My Department will consider the matter further on receipt of a response from...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (23 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: The money due to the person referred to by the Deputy was paid to them on the 14th October 2010.

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (23 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: Officials from my Department met with the Trustees of the school to which the Deputy refers at the end of June 2010 to discuss the future viability of the school. At that meeting, it was agreed that a technical assessment of the school buildings would be carried out. This assessment has taken place and a report has been prepared. My Department has considered the report and a letter has...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (23 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for the relevant grant awarding authority i.e. the applicant's local authority or VEC. Where a grant application is refused, the reason for the refusal is given by the grant awarding authority. An applicant may appeal the decision to the relevant local authority or VEC. Where the grant awarding authority...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (23 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: As the Deputy may be aware, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating resource teachers and Special Needs Assistants to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support. I have arranged for the...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (23 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: Athboy Community School and Kildare Town Community School are included in the 2nd bundle of primary/post-primary schools being provided under my Department's PPP programme. The other schools in the bundle are Bantry Community College and Gaelscoil Bantry, Co. Cork, Abbeyfeale Community College, Co. Limerick and Wicklow Town Community College. Following an international tender process, the...

Written Answers — School Evaluations: School Evaluations (23 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: The number of whole-school evaluations completed in 2008, 2009 and to date in 2010 is as follows: 2008 - 245 Primary Whole-School Evaluations 2008 - 60 Post-Primary Whole-School Evaluations 2009 - 253 Primary Whole-School Evaluations 2009 - 57 Post-Primary Whole-School Evaluations 2010 - 181 Primary Whole-School Evaluations up to 31 October 2010 2010 - 45 Post-Primary Whole-School...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (23 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: I can confirm that the school to which the Deputy refers has made an application to my Department for Major Capital funding for a new school building. The application has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects and assigned a Band 2 rating. Information in respect of the current school building programme along with all assessed...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (23 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: The Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) was introduced to schools in 1995 and now caters for approximately 7% of the overall student cohort. Participation in recent years is as follows:- No of Schools offering LCA LCA Enrolment (2 year cohort) 2009/10 290 6,883 2008/9 293 7,097 2007/8 296 7,436 2006/7 293 7,498 2005/6 290 7,414 The LCA is a two-year programme...

Written Answers — Computerisation Programme: Computerisation Programme (23 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: As the Deputy may be aware over €92m has been provided to primary and post primary schools in ICT grants in the past 12 months as part of this Government's commitment to ICT in education. Schools are requested to prioritise the purchase of computers for use by teachers and digital projectors. Once schools have the recommended baseline in place they may purchase a wide range of ICT...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (23 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: In my response to Parliamentary Question No. 40116/10 I set out the criteria for payment of the honours degree allowance. As I informed the Deputy in that answer, my Department also accepts full membership of certain professional bodies for the purpose of granting certain qualification allowances. The person referred to by the Deputy does not hold a primary honours degree or full membership...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (23 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: I can confirm that the school to which the Deputy refers has applied to my Department for major capital funding. In accordance with the published criteria for large scale building projects, the application has been assessed and assigned a band 1.1 rating. Information in respect of the current school building programme along with all assessed applications for major capital works, including...