Results 22,701-22,720 of 23,995 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (10 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of second level schools in each county where a teacher absence during the month of September 2012 was covered by a person with no teaching qualification that have been contacted by his Department in relation to the employment of a person with no qualification; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43651/12]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (10 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of second level schools in each county where a teacher was absent in the month of September 2012 for six days or more and the number of those schools in each county where those absences were covered by a person with no teaching qualification; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43652/12]

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Croke Park Agreement (10 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will provide the details of any work practices negotiated under the terms of the Croke Park Agreement with welfare officers through their union; the date on which such changes were implemented; the savings that resulted from any changes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43632/12]

Other Questions: Teachers' Remuneration (9 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: Everyone in the House would agree on the importance of ensuring some of our top graduates continue to enter the teaching profession. However, statistics are available which show that even as things stood before the starting salary was reduced, students with certain levels of qualifications entering the teaching profession were starting on a salary which was lower than for those entering...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (9 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: The NCSE's report to the Minister also recommended that the two education programmes, the Incredible Years programme and the Friends programme, which have recently undergone trial successfully in counties Carlow and Kilkenny, would be rolled out across the country. The Friends programme helps the students to manage the behaviour themselves and also to recognise when they are feeling anxious...

Other Questions: Teachers' Remuneration (9 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: The Minister created a serious issue here with the stance taken by him whereby new entrants to the teaching profession are on a radically reduced salary from that of those entering only a year previously. The starting salary has gone from €39,000 a couple years ago to €31,000 now. This is a matter I raised with the Minister in a Topical Issue debate the first week back after...

Other Questions: Bullying in Schools (9 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: I concur with the previous speakers. The introduction of technology, especially iPads, into primary and secondary schools in the past year or two has been positive and it could reap many benefits in future. This opens up possibilities in terms of how people might bully others, fellow students and their teachers. I recall the emergence of the teacher rating website some years ago. That was...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (9 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: I thank the Minister for his reply. Mary Byrne, head of special education at the National Council for Special Education, recently estimated that more than €200 million worth of additional teaching resources is needed every year as a result of behavioural issues in schools. The Minister outlined that the council has recommended to him in its recent report that at least one teacher from...

Other Questions: Universities Global Ranking (9 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: The Minister appeared to indicate he was not aware the report was being commissioned and neither he nor his Department had requested it. Is that correct? He referred to the roadmap produced in the Hunt report, which also deals with the information technology sector and opportunities for universities to apply for technological university status. What is the current position in this regard?...

Other Questions: Universities Global Ranking (9 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: We learned last week that our universities had again slipped down the latest rankings in The Times higher education survey, with Ireland no longer represented among the top 100 institutions worldwide. The drop in position for University College Dublin, from 159 to 187, is particularly dramatic and worrying. Trinity College Dublin is slightly up, from 117 to 110, but has failed yet again to...

Other Questions: Mental Health Guidelines (9 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: I ask this question in the light of some of the issues I raised as Priority Questions. It is clear that greater action is required to support young people who are experiencing mental health issues and that the school environment is a place in which positive mental health should be promoted. It is estimated that at any one time one in five young people is experiencing psychological...

Other Questions: Mental Health Guidelines (9 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: This is a matter which requires urgent attention. The Minister states the programme may form part of the reform of the junior certificate curriculum. However, this reform is planned to take place in the next eight years, which is a very long time in the life of a student. There is international evidence that adopting a whole-school approach to mental health is the most effective way of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Third Level Fees (9 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: Will the Minister do a very simple thing and keep the promise he made to students in the full knowledge of the economic environment at the time? He stated one thing four weeks before he got into government, but now he is saying "Sorry, guys, it's going to go up to €3,000, and do you know what? I feel bad about it". Feeling bad about it is not a good enough response to students. What...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Third Level Fees (9 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: I am sorry, but the Minister's response does not add up. He was the Opposition spokesperson on education-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Third Level Fees (9 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: He was the spokesperson on education for the Labour Party in Opposition. He did not in any way qualify what he stated at that time but promised the sun, moon and stars. He said it would be no problem under the Labour Party. He told students that if he were Minister for Education and Skills, not only would there be no increase in student registration fees but he would undo the increases...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Third Level Fees (9 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will ensure that third level students and their families are not levied with a further increase in the student contribution fee in 2013; if he has examined alternative savings in the third level sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43236/12]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Third Level Fees (9 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: I note that the Minister confirmed before the Dáil today, as he did recently at an education committee meeting, that it is his intention to increase the student contribution fee to €3,000. That is a shameful position the Minister is now taking in government. Just a month before the election campaign the Minister participated in a photo call with the Union of Students in Ireland,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Schools Guidance Counsellors (9 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: In the last month or so, as schools have come back for the new term, we have started to see the real impact on students on the ground of the Minister's decision in last year's budget to abolish the ex quota allocation of hours for guidance counselling. When the Minister removed the ex quota allocation last year, he told schools they had to make do with the guidance provision and take it from...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Schools Guidance Counsellors (9 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: I do not think it is sufficient to "keep it under review" in this instance. We have already seen the impact this change has had in the first month of the school year. There is an onus on the Minister to engage with schools across the country. He has said this is now the responsibility of each school, but the reality is that the cut provided for in last year's budget has made it...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Schools Guidance Counsellors (9 Oct 2012)

Charlie McConalogue: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he has conducted an audit of the impact that cuts to guidance and counselling services at second level made in Budget 2012 is having on the student population; and the measures he plans to take to ensure that the needs of students are adequately catered for. [43235/12]