Results 17,321-17,340 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (29 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: In line with the philosophy of the Framework for Junior Cycle, no subject or short course will be deemed compulsory apart from Irish, English and Mathematics, and the new area of learning of Wellbeing.  Thereafter schools will have the flexibility and autonomy to choose from 18 other subjects, including History.  Schools will be given flexibility to shape their own junior cycle...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Adult Education Provision (29 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: A number of matters were raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General in his report of February 2012, Matters Arising out of Education Audits.  The majority of the matters raised have been addressed, some have been overtaken by events since the publication of the report.  The issue regarding the payment of contributions for the 'pay-as-you-go' model pension schemes...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Institutions Expenditure (29 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: The financial statements of all of the Universities and Institutes of Technology are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) and are laid by my Department before the Houses of the Oireachtas. Once audited by the C&AG the Universities and Institutes are obliged to submit to my Department their audited accounts, along with the C&AG audit...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Institutes of Technology Funding (29 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy may be aware, Institutes of Technology (IoTs) are classified as within General Government Balance for Eurostat purposes. This arises primarily due to the smaller level of income received by IoTs from non-State sources as against the Universities which have a higher proportion. The Deputy will appreciate the recent economic crisis and continuing constraints on Government as a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staff (29 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has a statutory role under the Education of Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 to provide me with policy advice in relation to matters concerning the education of persons with special educational needs. The NCSE identified that the current model for allocating resource teachers to schools is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Institutions (29 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: My Department in conjunction with the Higher Education Authority ( HEA) has decided to commence a series of Corporate Governance Compliance Reviews utilising a centralised procurement framework to deliver reviews which will evaluate the effectiveness of governance in organisations against stated policy, best practice, national and international standards. The first such ‘rolling...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (29 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: In line with the philosophy of the Framework for Junior Cycle, no subject or short course will be deemed compulsory apart from Irish, English and Mathematics, and the new area of learning of Wellbeing. Thereafter schools will have the flexibility and autonomy to choose from 18 other subjects, including History. Schools will be given flexibility to shape their own junior cycle programme...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (29 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: I can confirm to the Deputy that an application for additional accommodation received in 2015 was not approved for funding on the basis of sufficient accommodation being available to the school in question.   In recent days the school contacted my Department to advise that their accommodation requirements had changed in the intervening period due to an increase in the allocated...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Access to Higher Education (29 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: The Programme for Government contains a commitment to commission an independent examination to identify the supports and barriers to accessing higher education for lone parents, and examine measures to increase participation. In line with this commitment, my Department engaged a multi-disciplinary team in NUI Maynooth to undertake the independent review. The review is being overseen...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Non-Disclosure Agreements (29 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: The information requested by the Deputy is not readily available in my Department. It is currently being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Home Tuition Scheme Eligibility (29 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: The terms and conditions for the payment of the Minor Works Grant to primary schools are set out in Circular Letter 0062/2013. The funds that are transferred under the grant to schools must be spent on the physical infrastructure of the school or on items of furniture and equipment for educational use, including IT related equipment. The Circular states that the grant will only be paid...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Home Tuition Scheme Eligibility (29 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: The purpose of the Home Tuition Grant Scheme is to provide funding towards the provision of a compensatory educational service for children who, for a number of specific reasons, are unable to attend school. The scheme provides a compensatory educational service for a.Early educational intervention for children with autism who meet the schemes eligibility criteria b.Students with special...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Ministerial Advisers Appointments (29 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: My Department has applied for and received sanction from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for the appointment of Ms. Michelle Clancy as a Special Adviser to assist the Minister of State in carrying out his official functions at the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation. A Memorandum for Government will be presented to the...

Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputy for raising this question. It is an issue of considerable concern, particularly for sufferers. The Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, has made it clear that he wishes to make progress on this issue. There is no attempt by the Government to talk down the benefits of this. Indeed, other Ministers have met families directly affected and are very aware of the concerns....

Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: I can assure the Deputy that the Minister is absolutely at the front line-----

Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: -----but the difficulty has been that the technology assessment has shown that at the price being demanded for the drug, it is not medically cost effective. That has been found to be the case not only in Ireland but in Australia, Canada, England and Scotland. All those countries are having difficulty with this company in getting a reasonable pricing of the product. That has been confirmed...

Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: I thank all those who have been involved in drawing up this report. It is a useful piece of work done under the chairmanship of Mr. Kevin Duffy and it shows that a great deal of expertise was brought to bear on the issue. The report allows us to have a genuine conversation about the future of water. The Deputy has selectively picked parts that she likes and chosen to ignore others. What...

Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: It is nonsense to suggest that people were elected on any one issue. People were elected because of concerns across a range of issues. They wanted to see people getting back to work. They wanted those on welfare who had not received increases for eight years to receive such increases. This Government is providing a response in respect of many of the issues that were raised during the...

Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: We have to sit down-----

Leaders' Questions (30 Nov 2016)

Richard Bruton: As Deputies elected to this House, we have to deliberate on this decision. We have to reach our own decisions. We are not pre-empting that. We all have our views.