Results 1,901-1,920 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Class Sizes: Motion. (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The special education organiser——

Class Sizes: Motion. (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: They are the facts.

Class Sizes: Motion. (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Proving we have reduced class sizes.

Class Sizes: Motion. (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I am sure the principals arecapable people.

Class Sizes: Motion. (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Out of 750,000 there are 9,067 pupils in classes of more than 40?

Written Answers — Education Welfare Service: Education Welfare Service (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The Education (Welfare) Act 2000 established the National Educational Welfare Board as the single national body with responsibility for school attendance. The Act provides a comprehensive framework promoting regular school attendance and tackling the problems of absenteeism and early school leaving. The general functions of the board are to ensure that each child attends a recognised school...

Written Answers — Third Level Education: Third Level Education (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Information on national failure rates in specific programmes is not available. However, national research conducted by the HEA into the issue of student non-completion found that science had a higher rate of non-completion than the average across the university sector, at 22.2% against 16.7% otherwise. This, however, refers to the number who do not complete the full degree rather than the...

Written Answers — Teacher Training: Teacher Training (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I understand the Deputy is referring to teacher training programmes in the colleges of education. The existing pre-service teacher training programmes provided by the colleges of education include specific elements aimed at enabling all primary teachers to recognise and deal appropriately with the particular needs of all children who have learning disabilities, including those associated with...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Based on the information provided by the Deputy, it is not possible to respond specifically on the case in question. However, my officials will arrange to have the matter examined further if the Deputy or the pupil's family arranges to forward the specific details of the case, including the relevant professional reports, to my Department's special education section. Children with dyslexia...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The recommendations of the task force on autism provide an invaluable basis for development of educational services and supports for persons with autism. In responding to the recommendations, my Department has given priority to implementing the core legislative and structural measures required to underpin service development and delivery. The Education for Persons with Special Educational...

Written Answers — Literacy Levels: Literacy Levels (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: There is no facility within the education system to measure the percentage of young people leaving post-primary schools with literacy difficulties. However, the results of PISA, the programme of international student assessment, provide detailed information on the standards of reading literacy among Irish 15 year olds. In the second cycle of PISA, which was carried out in 2003, Ireland ranked...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Every effort is made to ensure that children with special educational needs receive an education appropriate to their needs and, in this regard, in recent years significant additional resources have been made available to schools to enable them to provide for children with such needs. The following dedicated resources are now deployed to support children with special educational needs in the...

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, has delegated authority to develop and provide an educational psychological service to all students in primary and post-primary schools and in certain other centres supported by my Department. A leaflet explaining the NEPS model of service, Working Together to Make a Difference for Children, was issued to all schools in October 2002. In...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Opportunities for professional development and the availability of support on a personal level are important in every profession in enabling staff to work to the best of their abilities and to deal with stress. The priority I attach to providing quality professional development for teachers is evident from the fact that this year's inservice budget is up by almost 19% on the 2004 allocation...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I have included the building project for the school in question in my recently announced list of school projects to be progressed through architectural planning in 2005. My Department will be in contact with the school shortly to progress the design process. A decision on which school building projects will advance to tender and construction as part of the 2006 schools building and...

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 69, 79, 93 and 133 together. The information requested is as follows and refers to ordinary classes only for the 2003-04 school year: more than 20 — 346,066; more than 25 — 233,262; more than 30 — 73,069; more than 35 — 4,499. The system for allocating teachers to primary schools is based on ensuring an overall maximum class of 29 in each school. Where...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: My Department funds three means tested maintenance grant schemes for third level students. The higher education grants scheme operates on a statutory basis, while the vocational education committees' scholarship scheme and the third level maintenance grants scheme for trainees operate on an administrative basis. The statutory framework for maintenance grants under the higher education grants...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The figures requested by the Deputy are not readily available in my Department. I am aware, however, that the primary sector has experienced a shortage of trained teachers in recent years mainly as a result of the creation of a large number of additional posts — more than 4,000 since 1997 — in our primary schools. The difficulties experienced were aggravated by the number of teachers...

Written Answers — Residential Institutions Redress Scheme: Residential Institutions Redress Scheme (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The Residential Institutions Redress Board is an independent body established under statute in December 2002 to provide financial redress to persons who, as children, were abused while resident in industrial schools, reformatories or other institutions that were subject to State regulation or inspection. To date, the board has received 5,909 applications and has made awards in just over 3,000...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (26 Apr 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The advisory committee for the deaf and hard of hearing was established in December 2001. The committee held 38 meetings over a three year period as well as a number of other meetings at subcommittee stage. From an early stage in the committee's deliberations it became apparent that there were entrenched, divergent views among representatives of deaf and hearing persons and their families on...