Results 2,761-2,780 of 16,057 for speaker:Mary Coughlan
- Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: The school to which the Deputy refers has provisional recognition from my Department. During this period, it is the responsibility of the Patron to provide accommodation. However, my Department is aware of the accommodation issues at the school and, notwithstanding the Patron's responsibilities in this matter, my Department has been assisting the Patron in sourcing suitable, cost effective...
- Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the building project to which he refers has been on site since early January.
- Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: As the Deputy has been previously informed, the school to which he refers has not applied to my Department for large scale capital funding and it indicated to my Department last year that it is not in need of such funding.
- Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: In the last six months the project to which the Deputy refers has completed the detailed design stage and has been authorised to proceed to tender.
- Written Answers — Education Welfare Service: Education Welfare Service (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: Under Section 29 of the Education Act 1998, where a school Board of Management permanently excludes a student from school, that decision may be appealed, either to the relevant Vocational Educational Committee in the first instance, or to the Secretary General of my Department. Only where an appeal has been upheld by a Section 29 committee may the Secretary General of my Department direct...
- Written Answers — School Medical Examinations: School Medical Examinations (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: My Department does not operate the schools medical examinations service and I am not therefore in a position to comment on the matters raised by the Deputy. It appears that these matters would be more appropriate to my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children.
- Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: The attached table details the latest information on the number of new applications awaiting decisions. The information has been supplied to my Department by the local authorities and the Vocational Education Committees. The information in relation to the applications outstanding from previous years is not available in the format requested by the Deputy as the process of paying third level...
- Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: The information requested by the Deputy on the number of special needs teachers and special needs assistants employed at primary and second level throughout the country is not readily available in the requested format. As the Deputy will be aware, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENO) for...
- Written Answers — Capitation Grants: Capitation Grants (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: I wish to assure the Deputy that I am committed to ensuring that schools have adequate funding to cover their running costs. The Deputy will be aware that the Renewed Programme for Government contains commitments to maintain capitation grants at current levels within the deflationary economic environment. At primary level, schools currently receive, in ancillary and capitation grants, at...
- Written Answers — Bullying in Schools: Bullying in Schools (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: There is no requirement for local school authorities to report incidents or allegations of bullying to my Department, nor do I believe that this should be the case. Under the Education Act 1998, legally, all schools are managed, on behalf of the school Patron or Trustees, by school Boards of Management who employ the teachers at the school. Whereas as I, as Minister for Education and Science...
- Written Answers — School Discipline: School Discipline (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: Under Section 15 of the Education Act 1998 it is the duty of the Board of Management to manage a school on behalf of the patron and for the benefit of the students and their parents. As part of its functions the board has a duty to publish the policy of the school relating to the expulsion and suspension of students. Section 23 of the Education Welfare Act 2000 requires all schools to have...
- Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 194 and 199 together. Children with special educational needs, including the specific conditions mentioned by the Deputy, have a range of placement options available to them. The level and extent of resources provided to support pupils with special educational needs depend on the precise nature of the special educational need of the particular pupil....
- Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: The overall national total number of whole time equivalent teaching posts allocated for special needs provision is just under 8,000 at Primary level and 2,775 at Post Primary level in the 2009/10 school year. The level of detail sought by the Deputy on a county basis would take some time to collate within my Department. My Department's Teacher Allocation Section is currently focused on the...
- Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: The information requested by the Deputy in relation to class size is attached. Pupil Teacher Ratio in respect of all schools is currently only available at national level and not disaggregated by county or any other variable. The data for the current school year (2009/2010) are currently being compiled by my Department and the final outcome will be available later in the year. PTR at...
- Written Answers — Radon Gas Levels: Radon Gas Levels (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: My Department commenced a Radon Remediation Programme in 1998 when it commissioned the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) to conduct a survey of radon levels in all primary and post primary schools. Radon in third level colleges is a matter for the individual institutions. The programme initially involved surveying radon levels in schools and subsequently carrying out...
- Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: As the Deputy will be aware all primary and post-primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA). Schools that do not currently have NEPS psychologists assigned to them may avail of the SCPA, whereby the school can have an assessment...
- Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: In general, my Department approves the purchase or rental of prefabricated classrooms based on need at the time of application. My Department does not hold information on the numbers of pupils in individual schools who currently occupy temporary accommodation, this depends on the organisation of class groups by the school management within available accommodation and may vary from year to...
- Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: The intended expenditure on school buildings at primary and post-primary level and on third-level institutions in 2010 is contained in the attached document. The capital spend in these three areas as of end April 2010 and from 2005-2009 is also as follows. Capital Allocation 2010 * all figures in â¬m* 2010 Allocation End Apr 2010 Position Primary Level â¬306.800 â¬39.034 ...
- Industrial Relations (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: During those conferences it was not appropriate to persuade the members of the union to vote one way or the other. I put forward the case that, in my view, what was an option arising from Croke Park was the issue which, without a doubt, was accepted by the Government, negotiated between both sides under the auspices of the LRC and that my view at that time was that it was the best option...
- Industrial Relations (6 May 2010)
Mary Coughlan: I was not negotiating. People must agree the format first and then there is negotiation. I was not going to be in a position where I would stand up at a forum of an INTO or TUI conference and negotiate with the body of the house. That is not what I was doing.