Results 3,161-3,180 of 3,797 for speaker:Ciarán Cannon

Vocational Education Committees (4 Oct 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I am not aware of the cost of the headquarters in Westmeath, but I will undertake to get the information and pass it to the Deputy concerned. I also undertake to take on board the comprehensive case he has made to have the VEC headquarters located in Longford and will pass it to the Minister, Deputy Quinn, as he finalises his deliberations.

Vocational Education Committees (4 Oct 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. My Department contributes to the overall aim of Government policy in regard to drugs and the national drugs strategy, which is to provide an effective integrated response to the problems posed by drug misuse. Part of my Department's contribution to the national drugs strategy is to provide funding for a number of projects in local drugs task force...

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (29 Sep 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: In July the Government announced the establishment of SOLAS as one of the key elements in the future development of the Further Education and Training sector. The SOLAS Implementation Group has been established to implement the announced changes in the sector. I am chairing the Group and its membership includes the Department of Education and Skills, FÁS and the Irish Vocational Education...

Written Answers — Labour Market Activation Fund: Labour Market Activation Fund (29 Sep 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I propose to take Questions Nos. 72 and 73 together. The Labour Market Activation Fund, 2010 provided €32m for 55 projects in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors offering 12,000 education and training places for the unemployed during the period 1 June 2010 to 30th June 2011. Training on all funded programmes is now completed and no budgetary provision was made for a further...

Written Answers — FÁS Training Programmes: FÁS Training Programmes (28 Sep 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I understand that, in order to qualify for the award of the FETAC Advanced Certificate - Craft, apprentices are required to be registered as an apprentice for a period of at least four years; have successfully completed Phase 1 to Phase 7 of their apprenticeships; have completed a statutory period of 4 years (208 weeks) in employment since date of registration, as apprentices in their...

Written Answers — Youthreach Programme: Youthreach Programme (27 Sep 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I chair an Implementation Group which is drawing up an Action Plan for the establishment of SOLAS, which, when established, will operate under the aegis of the Department of Education and Skills and co-ordinate and fund the wide range of further education and training programmes around the country. The nature and type of those programmes, including Youthreach, will be matters for discussion...

Written Answers — Post-Leaving Certification Courses: Post-Leaving Certification Courses (27 Sep 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I chair an Implementation Group which is drawing up an Action Plan for the establishment of SOLAS, which, when established, will operate under the aegis of the Department of Education and Skills and co-ordinate and fund the wide range of further education and training programmes around the country. The nature and type of those programmes will be matters for discussion between my Department,...

Written Answers — Post-Leaving Certification Courses: Post-Leaving Certification Courses (27 Sep 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses are predominately provided in VEC schools with some provision in Voluntary Secondary and Community and Comprehensive schools. In County Mayo the PLC programme operates in seven schools/colleges managed by County Mayo Vocational Educational Committee (VEC), four Voluntary Secondary schools and two Community and Comprehensive schools. Details of the...

Written Answers — Further Education and Training: Further Education and Training (27 Sep 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: In July the Government announced the establishment of SOLAS as a key element in the integration of the Further Education and Training sector. The SOLAS Implementation Group, which I am chairing, was set up to implement the changes. The Group is preparing an Action Plan, including the area of organisational mission, which will be the subject of consultation with stakeholders before...

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (27 Sep 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I propose to take Questions Nos. 149 and 150 together. Bus Éireann, which operates the School Transport Schemes on behalf of my Department, has advised that the information you request regarding the average cost of school bus transport per pupil is not readily available on a per county basis. However, research carried out in the context of the Value for Money Review of the School Transport...

Written Answers — Education Schemes: Education Schemes (27 Sep 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: The majority of the additional training, education and work experience places (15,900) for the unemployed, including young unemployed persons, contained in the Jobs Initiative which was announced in May 2011 are being delivered by my Department through the following programmes. * 6,000 places on FÁS Specific Skills Training Courses * 3,000 places on the Back to Education Initiative (FE) *...

Written Answers — FÁS Training Programmes: FÁS Training Programmes (27 Sep 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: FÁS has introduced a number of schemes to assist redundant apprentices to progress their apprenticeships, namely: ? Redundant Apprentice Placement Scheme 2011. With the support of the social partners, FÁS is providing a temporary Redundant Apprentice Placement Scheme whereby FÁS-approved employers in the public and private sectors will provide redundant apprentices with training and...

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (27 Sep 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: School Transport Section of my Department handles a large volume of grant payments at the end of each school year and it is inevitable that payment processing will take longer during this very busy period. The payment in question was issued on 20th September 2011.

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (27 Sep 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I have been informed that the project referred to by the Deputy is not a FÁS project, but has been funded by a Community Training Centre, which itself receives funding from FÁS. Following a review of funding of CTCs, it was determined that FÁS could not continue to provide the CTC with funding for this project as the work carried out by the project does not fall within the remit of FÁS.

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (27 Sep 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: Changes in the School Transport Scheme were announced by the previous Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government and derive from recommendations in the Value for Money Review of the scheme. One of the changes announced included an increase to ten in the minimum number of eligible pupils, residing in a distinct locality, required to establish or retain an individual school transport service. Bus...

School Transport (22 Sep 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: The school transport scheme is a scheme of national application. To be eligible for school transport, there is a minimum distance requirement of 3.2 km in the case of primary children and 4.8 km in the case of post-primary children. The methodology used by Bus Éireann to establish eligibility based on distance has not changed. It is and always has been the distance from the child's home to...

School Transport (22 Sep 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: There is no ideological hang up as to how this scheme is applied. The practice whereby school transport is limited to children living beyond a certain distance from a school is the international norm. It is practised in Northern Ireland, Great Britain and in most countries in Europe. At a time of very scarce resources, it is important to focus the school transport regime on those that are...

Further Education and Training (22 Sep 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: In July the Government announced the establishment of SOLAS as a key element in the development of the further education and training sector. The SOLAS implementation group has been established to implement the changes. It met on 31 August and again yesterday. I am chairing the group and its membership includes officials from the Department of Education and Skills, FÁS and the Irish...

Further Education and Training (22 Sep 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I want to assure the Deputy there is a serious urgency attached to the national roll out of SOLAS. The summer break was the reason for the three week hiatus between 31 August and yesterday, and we plan to meet every two weeks from now on. We have also established a number of subgroups within the implementation group which will oversee certain elements of the change management process, and...

Further Education and Training (22 Sep 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I reiterate that the Department is treating this matter with extreme urgency. I am an advocate of the motto "small is beautiful" in respect of implementation and committees. I made a presentation to the IVEA conference outlining what SOLAS sets out to achieve and two weeks ago I had a meeting with the board of FÁS at which I also set out what we hope to achieve through SOLAS. I am anxious...