Results 21,541-21,560 of 23,989 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations Issues (10 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 72. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if it is the case that the 2013 Leaving Certificate Maths papers were not ready until May 2013 instead of January as is normal, thereby leaving insufficient time for proper editing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42841/13]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations Issues (10 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 73. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will clarify the specific errors that occurred on the 2013 mathematics papers in the pilot schools; if these included a calculus question using a formula that was no longer on the course; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42842/13]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Single Payment Scheme Payments (10 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 167. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when payment under the single farm payment will issue to a person (details supplied) in County Donegal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42801/13]

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: I support Deputy Kyne's call for resource teaching hours for children with Down's syndrome and to have them added to the low incidence resource qualifying hours. Will the Minister clarify the deadline for the report to be completed? Following on from that, what timeline does he expect for any new system he may consider? As Deputy Kyne said, in the meantime, children with Down's syndrome...

Other Questions: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Minister for his reply. As he is aware, many of the people who will benefit from the fund and who will need to avail of it are among those the State failed badly in the past. Many of them are elderly and require the type of supports that the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board is expected to provide. I have met a number of the people in question and I am aware they...

Other Questions: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: What is the position with regard to €110 million which the board, by means of the fund, is going to disburse? When will the board, subject to the terms of reference being agreed, be in a position to accept applications and release moneys?

Other Questions: Universities Global Rankings (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: I agree with the Minister in the sense that funding is not the only aspect that determines quality of education. As the Minister observed, some universities are rising in the surveys while others are falling. However, one cannot continue down the pathway the Minister has taken of reducing funding and increasing intake. This certainly has been having an impact on pupil-teacher ratios and on...

Other Questions: Universities Global Rankings (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: As the Minister indicated in his reply, we need to be cautious about the different university rankings. Two have been published in recent weeks, the Times Higher Education survey and the QS world university rankings. One had some universities going up and the other had the same universities going down. Trinity College is a case in point. The Minister pointed out the fact that we are in...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Minister for his reply although I am not sure I understood him correctly. Did the Minister say that the NCSE received 7,450 SNA applications last year and that more than 10,400 posts were allocated?

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: That would indicate that more than one SNA per application was sought. Those figures do not ring true. As I understand it, the number of SNA posts sought is much higher. For example, more than 22,000 applications for SNA supports will have been received and approved this year. I also asked in my question for the number of new applications received as of the closing date of 20 September...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: The information provided today is not satisfactory. The figures provided do not add up. As rightly pointed out by the Minister, demand for special needs assistant supports has increased by more than 10%, which is similar to the increase in demand for resource teachers. The Minister initially proposed to cut the number of resource teaching hours but subsequently reversed that decision. He...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: The previous closing date was 20 March, while 20 September was the closing date for demand that has arisen in the meantime. The NCSE has told the Minister that just under 500 teachers will be required to meet that demand. Those children currently have a need for resource teaching support which has been applied for. They have been identified as having that need. Are those teachers...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: Go raibh maith agat.

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 62. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of application for special needs support that were received prior to the 20 September deadline; the number that were received subsequent to that deadline; the comparison between the numbers of these applications with the previous year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42223/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 60. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he is satisfied that the resource teaching hours for special needs students in 2013-14 will be adequate to meet demand; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42411/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Minister for his response. Earlier this year, the approach to resource teaching hours was a matter of serious concern, as each child who had been in receipt of hours last year was to experience a reduction from 0.9 of an allocation to 0.85. The Minister's reversal of this decision was welcome. In doing so, he allocated additional teachers by bringing forward those who had been...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: It is clear from the figures released, particularly in larger growing urban areas where the PTR and the allocation of teachers lags a year behind, that there are severe issues. We need to give more attention to that separate matter because it is creating pressures. As the Minister for State will know, a series of meetings have been held across the country over the past two to four weeks in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: 57. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will ensure that there will be no increase in class sizes or the pupil teacher ratio in budget 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42410/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (8 Oct 2013)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Minister for his response. Given that the budget is taking place next week, I was hoping for something more reassuring from the Minister, such as an understanding of the pressures teachers are facing in schools as a result of the current pupil-teacher ratios. Media articles in recent weeks have given rise to speculation that there may be an increase in those ratios. The...

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

Charlie McConalogue: 202. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children with Down Syndrome within the education system who do not receive any resource hours; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41892/13]