Results 15,841-15,860 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Universal Support Ireland Administration (8 Oct 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 the original decision of the awarding authority was upheld on appeal by the SUSI appeals officer. Where an appeal is turned down in writing by SUSI and the applicant remains of the view that the scheme has not been interpreted correctly in his or her...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (8 Oct 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 30 September 2012. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Institutions Issues (8 Oct 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy will be aware, Tourism College, Killybegs is a school of Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LYIT) which is an autonomous statutory body. The management of the College is the responsibility of the Governing Body and the President of LYIT. I am aware that the Higher Education Authority (HEA) is in discussions with LYIT in relation to a financial plan which the Institute has...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (8 Oct 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is at an advanced stage of architectural planning. Planning Permission has been granted and applications for Fire Certification and Disability Access Certification (DAC) are ongoing. Once the necessary statutory approvals have been secured the design team will complete the preparation of tender documents and the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (8 Oct 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 250, 257 and 263 together. The current status of all projects on the school building programme, including those for County Kildare, may be viewed on my Department's website at www.education.ie which is updated regularly throughout the year. The Deputy will be aware that the 5 year School Investment Plan announced in March 2012, provides for a €2...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 251 to 253, inclusive, 255 and 258 together. The Deputy will be aware that this Government is committed to the protection of front-line services for pupils with special educational needs. The level of resources devoted to supporting children with Special Educational Needs has been maintained at €1.3 billion this year. This includes provision for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (8 Oct 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: A list of Primary and Post Primary Schools currently renting temporary accommodation on a county by county basis, is attached for the Deputy's attention. Schools that are included on my Department's 5 Year Capital Programme, Public Private Partnership (PPP) Programme and Prefabs Replacement Initiatives are highlighted as these will have their temporary accommodation replaced with permanent...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (8 Oct 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: In 2010, the contract for one school building project ended prematurely due to the insolvency of the main contractor. In 2011, 14 projects encountered delays or ended prematurely due to insolvency events related to a main contractor. In 2012, the contract for one school building project ended prematurely due to the insolvency of the main contractor and one school building project was...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Fee Paying Schools (8 Oct 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 260 and 262 together. I recently met with the Joint Managerial Body and representatives of fee charging schools. The meeting afforded them an opportunity to articulate their views on a range of issues concerning their schools. A number of fee charging schools have made contact with the Department and the level of engagement to date varies from school to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Completion Rates (8 Oct 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: At second level there were 55,253 first time enrolments to the first year of the junior cycle programme in second level schools in 2005. Of this initial cohort, 95.89% sat the Junior Certificate Exams in 2008 or 2009 and 89.49% sat the Leaving Certificate Exams in 2010 or 2011. This is based on the sixth published report, by the Department of Education and Skills, on school retention in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Bullying in Schools (8 Oct 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy will be aware that I recently published new anti-bullying procedures for all primary and post primary schools. These new procedures have been developed following consultation with the relevant education partners and replace guidelines that were issued to schools in 1993. The procedures are designed to give direction and guidance to school authorities and school personnel in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (8 Oct 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Teachers in primary secondary and community/comprehensive schools are employed by the managerial authorities of the schools and paid salary by my Department on their behalf. The absences of teachers are recorded by the managerial authorities of the schools using the on line claim system. The information recorded is retained on my Departments database and is used to ensure the correct payment...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (8 Oct 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The average rate of absenteeism on my Department's payroll due to sickness in the 2011/2012 school year was 3.4% among primary teachers and 3.8% among post primary teachers. The Department of Expenditure and Reform monitor trends in sick leave absenteeism across the public sector. The reported absenteeism rates for 2012 in the other sectors range from 2.7% in the Defence sector to 4.8% in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Appeals (9 Oct 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, her student grant application was appealed to the appeals officer in SUSI on 17 September, 2013 and the student will be notified directly by SUSI of the outcome. Where an appeal is turned down in writing by SUSI and the applicant remains of the view...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Site Acquisitions (9 Oct 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I am pleased to advise that the legal agreement associated with the donation of the site referred to by the Deputy was concluded earlier this year.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Applications (9 Oct 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department officials met with the ETB in August last in relation to a capital project for the school concerned. The next step is to determine the suitability of the greenfield site, identified by the ETB, for development and this process is on-going. Tralee has not been identified as an area of significant demographic growth. In that context, a project...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staff Remuneration (9 Oct 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 78, 79, 81 and 82 together. All of these questions relate to Special Needs Assistants (SNAs). In relation to SNA contracts, the position is that the standard contract for SNAs was agreed by this Department, the Trade Unions (IMPACT and SIPTU) representing SNAs and the Management Bodies in 2005. This standard contract has not been amended recently nor are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staff Remuneration (9 Oct 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports including Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support, to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Stádas Scoile Faoi Mhíbhuntáiste (9 Oct 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Bunaíodh an próiseas aitheantais do bhunscoileanna ar anailís a rinne an tIonad Taighde Oideachais (ERC) ar thorthaí suirbhé ar bhunscoileanna. Aithníodh san anailís na hathróga socheacnamaíocha is fearr, i dteannta a chéile, mar fháistineoirí ar ghnóthachtáil, agus baineadh úsáid as na hathróga sin chun...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (9 Oct 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Under the terms of my Department's Free Fee Schemes the Exchequer meets the cost of tuition fees in respect of eligible students who are pursuing full-time undergraduate courses of study which are a minimum of two years duration in an approved higher education institution. The main conditions of the scheme are that students must be first-time undergraduates, hold inter alia EU/EEA/Swiss...