Results 2,241-2,260 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn
- Other Questions: Value for Money Reviews (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: It is certainly my desire that the report be published as soon as possible and that it be considered by the wider community before any policy decision is made.
- Other Questions: Schools Guidance Counsellors (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: Since September 2012, guidance provision is organised by school management from within the staffing schedule allocation. In this way principals have discretion to balance guidance needs with the pressures to provide subject choice. I acknowledge that bringing guidance within quota is challenging for schools, but the alternative was an increase in the 19:1 pupil-teacher ratio. My...
- Other Questions: Value for Money Reviews (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: I am not immediately aware of such a request, but I will make inquiries. I have no difficulty in meeting anybody in that regard, particularly in the area about which Mr. Storey has expressed concern because I have met others regarding it. I do not doubt the request was made to the Department, but as a former Cabinet Minister, the Deputy will realise a Minister does not see every request.
- Other Questions: Value for Money Reviews (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: Did you?
- Other Questions: Value for Money Reviews (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy was a very fortunate man to have had so much time to do that.
- Other Questions: Value for Money Reviews (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: I am sure the Deputy did.
- Other Questions: Value for Money Reviews (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: I admire the Deputy's tenacity. I will revert to him when I am in a position to tell him when the report will be published so as not to mislead him.
- Other Questions: Value for Money Reviews (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: Ireland was very much or predominantly a rural country, but that started to turn around in 1961 and it is now predominantly an urban country in many respects. That is having an impact in so many ways. Changes in retail policy, transport and other areas are having a major impact not just on Irish society but also in countries such as France, Italy, Spain and many others. We are no...
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Schools Amalgamation (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: First and foremost, the prospect of a section 29 appeal because people are refused access to an existing school will be, among other things, an indication that there are not sufficient places in the area to cope with the demand. This is the reason an additional school was provided for in the first place. However, what no one anticipated was that at the end of the process it would emerge...
- Other Questions: Value for Money Reviews (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 129 and 143 together. The current configuration of small primary schools has been examined by my Department in a value for money review, commissioned by my predecessor, former Deputy Mary Coughlan, which I am considering in consultation with my Government colleagues. The Government is mindful of the impact of small schools on dispersed rural communities and...
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Schools Amalgamation (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: I remain of the view that the optimum configuration for the two post-primary schools for Maynooth, County Kildare, and, indeed, the best provision that can be made for the students in the area, is two fully vertical schools, namely a junior cycle and senior cycle. I am aware of the desire locally to avoid issues of duplication or intra-community rivalry in the establishment of a second...
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Schools Amalgamation (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: Deputy Catherine Murphy, along with the other three Deputies in that constituency, is well aware of the history of this particular school project, how the selection was made, the process engaged upon by the new school establishment group, all based on the Department’s assessment of the need for additional post-primary places in the growing town of Maynooth. The procedure applied in...
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Book Rental Scheme (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: Yes.
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Book Rental Scheme (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: It is a start.
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Book Rental Scheme (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: I could respond to the political rhetoric in the Deputy’s most recent supplementary question, but I will not do so. I was trying to close a gap in 3,200 primary schools and 700 odd post-primary schools but particularly in primary schools to ensure there would be a book rental scheme because parents had said to me that they wanted the cost of school books reduced. I had to work within...
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Book Rental Scheme (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: I do not have to remind the Deputy what I have been trying to do with limited resources-----
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Book Rental Scheme (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: What I have tried to do with limited resources is introduce a degree of fairness in an unfair system-----
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Book Rental Scheme (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: Yes, I know: it is an unfair system. This is an unfair country.
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Book Rental Scheme (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: We are not even three years in government trying to fix the damage the Deputy’s party did over 40 years.
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Book Rental Scheme (21 Jan 2014)
Ruairi Quinn: Okay.