Results 1,681-1,700 of 8,015 for speaker:Jonathan O'Brien

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Examinations Issues (17 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: I will pass on the details, which I have already sent to the Minister. The case I cited is only one of a number of cases where psychologists have issued reports on behalf of different students. I wrote to the independent appeals committee at the start of March questioning one of its decisions and seeking further information. The reply I received states that the appeal had been disallowed....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Examinations Issues (17 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: It relates to the criteria used.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Examinations Issues (17 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: I will pass on the relevant information once more.

Other Questions: Schools Mental Health Strategies (17 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: I was interested in the Minister of State's response to the question of how we deal with the whole area of mental health, particularly with regard to the stresses that teachers are under, because it is a growing issue. If one speaks to any representatives from the teaching unions, they will tell one that it is a growing problem and something that must be addressed. Various initiatives being...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (17 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: The Minister of State mentioned the home tuition scheme run by the Department, offering 20 hours of one-on-one tuition. For the past five years with the grant allocated to parents, there was a certain discretion. For example, many parents would have used four or five hours in a group setting within preschools in particular. There seems to have been a change in the Department's policy as...

Other Questions: School Patronage (17 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: The Minister made a mistake when he put a figure on the number of schools he would change. We can only provide the sort of school people want. If they are happy with the local patron system, it does not change, it comes down to parental choice. The mistake was trying to put a figure on this before any research was carried out. The data are now coming back from the surveys but the response...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Fee Paying Schools (17 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the measures, if any, he intends to implement in response a report into the 55 private fee-charging schools in the State which have more than €81m in discretionary income to spend on extra teachers, ancillary staff, state-of-the-art facilities and extra-curricular activities; and his plans to reduce or end the paying of State subsidies to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Croke Park Agreement Issues (17 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on the TUI's rejection of the Croke Park 2 Agreement; and if he will review the current proposals tabled by the Labour Relations Commission in the view of the anger expressed by teachers to cuts and changes to employment conditions imposed across the second level sector. [17561/13]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Multilingualism in an EU Context: Discussion with Department of Education and Skills (17 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: Deputy McConalogue spoke about the modern language initiative. I agree with him that it was a retrograde step to discontinue it in December 2011. I can only speak from my own experience as a student of modern languages and other members may have differing opinions as teachers. I do not believe we do enough at primary level to prepare students to study modern languages. For instance, I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Multilingualism in an EU Context: Discussion with Department of Education and Skills (17 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: I was interested in Mr. Caffrey's analysis of how it is being taught. We are perhaps moving away from that type of teaching and learning to a more communicative model. There is no doubt that the more one interacts with the language on a daily basis, the easier it is to pick it up and maintain. I have young children who watch television programmes such as "Dora the Explorer" and "Handy...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Multilingualism in an EU Context: Discussion with Department of Education and Skills (17 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: That is true even in the Gaelscoileanna. My children go to all-Irish schools, where it is not just that the language is being taught, but that they are communicating in it every day, even in the hallways, during PE and so on. It is an active language within that environment and it stays with them beyond education.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Local Enterprise Offices Establishment (23 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: 109. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the stage at which the creation of the new local enterprise offices are at; and when will they be functioning. [18635/13]

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Numbers (23 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: 115. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the jobs that have been secured for each county by each of the trade missions in the past 12 months. [18634/13]

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Properties (24 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: 35. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number and locations through which her Department operates; the amount being paid in rent for each unit for each of the past three years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18846/13]

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Anti-Poverty Strategy (24 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: 38. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide an update on the implementation of the National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18847/13]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: In-service Training (24 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: 102. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if retired principals are being employed by his Department, the vocational education committees or directly by schools or colleges to provide continual personal development in-service training for teachers; and if he will provide in tabular form the money paid to retired teachers providing this service on an individual basis for the past two...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (24 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: 103. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if persons who have worked in the education sector and have availed of retirement under the terms of the Croke Park 1 deal are barred from returning in any way to public service or receiving payments for constituency work, training teachers, principals, deputy principals or school/college management in-service training or delivery of continual...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: VFM Review of Reserve Defence Force: Discussion with Minister for Defence and RDFRA (24 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: I am filling in for Deputy Mac Lochlainn who has another engagement. He asked me to raise two questions. What is the impact of the cuts over the past number of years? The budget has been reduced, from €13 million in 2006 to €4 million last year. The witnesses might quantify how that has been implemented across the RDF. The other question relates to the value-for-money...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: VFM Review of Reserve Defence Force: Discussion with Minister for Defence and RDFRA (24 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: So it is not a case of personnel not being willing to train, it is that the capacity is just not there to train the numbers the witnesses would like to train.

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Arts Council Funding (25 Apr 2013)

Jonathan O'Brien: 21. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if his attention has been drawn to the recent controversy surrounding the Cork Film Festival and the resignations that followed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19370/13]