Results 2,881-2,900 of 3,797 for speaker:Ciarán Cannon

Seanad: Local Authority Staff (28 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: I will pass on Senator Burke's concerns and suggestions to the Minister, Deputy Hogan. Some local authorities are doing exceptional work in maintaining an excellent service to the public. An examination of their work should establish the reasons they are doing exceptionally well. Having established these reasons, there is no reason we should not be able to roll out similar operational...

Schools Amalgamation (23 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: The school referred to by the Deputy is a two-teacher school with 19 pupils. It will continue to be a two-teacher school in September 2012. Based on its current enrolment it will remain a 2-teacher school in September 2013. It may lose a teacher in September 2014. However, it can avoid this if its overall enrolment increases in the previous September to 20 pupils. This gives a lead-in...

Schools Amalgamation (23 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: I have already made it clear that school communities should have no reason to feel that there will be a forced closure of their local school. No school closes because it loses a teacher. Small primary schools that had to close in recent years were those that were no longer viable due to falling enrolment. The enrolment in such schools had typically fallen below a total of eight pupils for...

Schools Amalgamation (23 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: An attack on schools in rural Ireland is the last thing this policy aims to achieve. I come from rural Ireland and I attended a two-teacher school in rural Ireland. My mother taught for 42 years in the same school. I am not launching an attack on rural Ireland. We are trying to ensure that the quality of the education provided in every institution, be it from the two-teacher school to the...

Schools Amalgamation (23 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: We have been anxious to point out from the very beginning that there will be no forced amalgamation of any rural schools or forced closure. I do not agree that the amalgamation options have been exhausted yet. I recall a colleague of mine saying in the Seanad last week that there were seven schools in his parish, consisting of an eight-teacher school, a smattering of two-teacher schools and...

Further Education and Training Sector (23 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: Following the Government decision in July 2011 to establish SOLAS, an implementation group was put in place to oversee the process. This group includes representatives from FÁS, the further education sector, as well as from the Departments of Education and Skills and Social Protection. Given the complex elements involved, including appropriate legislation to establish SOLAS and legislation...

Further Education and Training Sector (23 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: What we are involved in is the most far-reaching and fundamental reform of the further education and training sector the country has seen. It is a gargantuan task in change management that requires the co-operation, willingness and enthusiasm of everybody involved in further education and training. As chairman of the implementation group since last July, these are forthcoming. We have...

Further Education and Training Sector (23 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: The Deputy is correct. We do need to have a definitive timeline to eliminate any misunderstanding or misinformation. The SOLAS implementation group has achieved a great deal in the very short time it has been in existence. On a paper basis, we have piloted the amalgamation of FÁS and the VECs in Cork and Dublin which has thrown up some very interesting results, some of them positive. The...

Written Answers — Third Level Courses: Third Level Courses (23 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: In 2012, the Government will fund over 450,000 education and training places across the range of provision in the higher education, further education and training sectors. The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs advises the Government on the current and future skills needs of the economy. This advice, together with information both local and national informs course planning and provision. The...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (23 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: It is envisaged that SOLAS will have strategic responsibility for all further education and training currently delivered by VECs and FÁS. Over time, FÁS Training Centre premises and most FÁS regional staff will be integrated with the VECs, to facilitate the delivery to the public in an integrated way of both further education and training services. No decisions have been made in relation...

Written Answers — European Globalisation Fund: European Globalisation Fund (23 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: Table 3.1 of the Report on the Implementation of the Three EGF Construction Programme for the Period 19th December 2011 to 27th January 2012 refers to the main actions taken by the EGF Construction Contact Centre in respect of eligible persons accessing its services during the period 19th December 2011 to 27th January 2012. The EGF Construction Contact Centre was established to support...

Written Answers — Further Education and Training: Further Education and Training (23 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: In 2011, the further education and training sectors provided almost 300,000 places. In addition, enrolments in the third level sector reached 161,000 and 5,900 places were offered through the Springboard initiative. At a time of reducing resources the Department of Education and Skills will still maintain this general level of provision in 2012. The 2012 education and training provision will...

Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (22 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: The person referred to by the Deputy is attending a Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS) course with County Offaly VEC and is in receipt of a training allowance. Learners on VTOS courses can qualify for an additional payment of a long term training bonus of €20 per week if they have been in receipt of an eligible Department of Social Protection payment for 312 days directly...

Written Answers — European Globalisation Fund: European Globalisation Fund (22 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: The final report and accompanying statement of expenditure in respect of the Waterford Crystal EGF programmme were submitted to the European Commission by the Department on 6 February 2012 as required under the relevant European Commission decision. The final report and accompanying statement of expenditure in respect of the S R Technics EGF programme are currently being prepared and are...

Written Answers — European Globalisation Fund: European Globalisation Fund (22 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: The European Commission has fowarded the Department its initial caluclations for a reimbursement of 5,978,311.30 Euros in respect of the EU financial contribution of 14,831,050.00 Euros made to the Dell EGF programme. However, as the EGF case in question has not yet been closed by the European Commission, a debit note from the Commission instructing the Department on when and how to...

Written Answers — European Globalisation Fund: European Globalisation Fund (22 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: I refer the Deputy to the reply provided to Parliamentary Question Numbers 1030 and 1033 of 11 January 2012. As I previously stated, there is no definition, either in the EGF Regulations or otherwise, of what constitutes a complementary action in the context of the EGF. The European Commission has approved all of the measures included in the six Irish applications for EGF co-financing and...

Written Answers — European Globalisation Fund: European Globalisation Fund (22 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: Discussions on relevant issues related to the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) are held on a regular basis between the Department and the European Commission. The discussions held may be in the context of scheduled reviews and evaluations as required under the EGF Regulation or on a case-by-case basis in relation to specific Irish EGF applications. In terms of assessing...

Medical Cards (22 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn. I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to outline to the House the expansion to the staffing appeal process to include small schools affected by the recent budget measure. Budget 2012 provided for phased increases in the pupil thresholds for the allocation of mainstream...

Medical Cards (22 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: Unfortunately, the budgetary and academic years do not coincide and anomalous cases always arise when a change is made to the pupil-teacher ratio in the middle of the academic year. This is not unusual and it happened in the past when previous Governments implemented changes to the pupil-teacher ratio. The number of pupils required for retention of a teacher was increased and the Department...

Written Answers — Education and Training Authority: Education and Training Authority (21 Feb 2012)

Ciarán Cannon: The SOLAS Implementation Group, which I chair, initiated a stakeholder consultation process towards the end of last year concerning the establishment of SOLAS - the new further education and training authority. It published a consultation paper to assist in that process and submissions were received from a wide range of interested parties. I intend to hold an information seminar for...