Results 3,801-3,820 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Exchequer Savings (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department's travel and subsistence allocation for 2013 is €1.59 million This allocation supports key functions within my Department such as the provision of schools inspections, psychological services to schools and oversight of capital projects. The savings that would be associated with reductions in travel and subsistence allocation as queried by the Deputy are shown below:...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Exchequer Savings (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The information sought by the Deputy is provided in the table. The training budget meets the cost of training and development for the Department's staff in administrative, professional, technical and service grades, and aims to enhance the skills and knowledge of staff to build capability to enable the Department meet current and future challenges and promote personal development of staff....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Exchequer Savings (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The attached tabular statement gives the current salaries of my Special Advisors and the annual saving to the Exchequer if their salaries were capped at the first point of the Principal Officer grade, post the implementation of the Haddington Road Agreement. Officials at my Department wrote to the Department of Finance at the time of the appointments and requested sanction to place the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Grants (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The main financial support available to students attending further or higher education is the Student Grant Scheme administered by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI). Under the terms of the scheme, grant assistance is awarded to students who meet the prescribed conditions of funding including those relating to nationality, residency, previous academic attainment and means. In order to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Programme for Government Implementation (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Information relevant to the Deputy's question is currently being compiled. A further reply will issue to the Deputy as soon as possible. Broadly speaking, I am satisfied with the amount of progress made to date and I believe that by the conclusion of the Government's full five year term, much of the ambitious reform agenda set out in that document will have been implemented.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Expenditure (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The information requested by the Deputy in respect of agencies is not held centrally by my Department. The awarding of contracts, the expenditure incurred, and the procurement arrangements by agencies under the aegis of my Department is an operational matter for the agencies themselves. If the Deputy has an interest in a particular agency then officials in my Department will request the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy is referring to the comprehensive policy advice recently published by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) on Supporting Students with Special Educational Needs in Schools, which is available on its website www.ncse.ie. The NCSE consulted widely with parents of children with special educational needs, representative bodies and the education partners in preparing this...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staffing (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The core function of the redeployment arrangements is to facilitate the redeployment of all surplus permanent teachers to other schools that have vacancies. The redeployment of all surplus permanent teachers is key to the Department's ability to manage within its payroll budget and ceiling on teacher numbers. Thereafter, schools are required under the panel arrangements to fill permanent...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Grants (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The main financial support available to students attending higher education is my Department's Student Grant Scheme. Under the terms of the Student Grant Scheme, grant assistance is awarded to students who meet the prescribed conditions of funding including those which relate to nationality, residency, approved course, previous academic attainment and means. Currently maintenance support is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that the level of resources being devoted to supporting children with Special Educational Needs has been maintained at €1.3 billion this year. This includes provision for 10,575 Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) and nearly 10,000 Learning Support and Resource Teachers. These resources have been protected despite the ongoing severe financial position and a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 353 and 355 to 357, inclusive, together. The Government has protected frontline services to schools to the greatest extent possible in Budget 2013 and there will be no reduction in teacher numbers in primary schools for the 2013/14 school year as a result of the budget. The DEIS scheme for disadvantaged schools is also fully protected with no overall changes...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Exchequer Savings (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The Government approved a number of measures relating to public service allowances following a public service wide review of allowances and premium payments conducted by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. There was no specific figure attributed as a saving for the abolition of the Gaeltacht, Teaching through Irish and Island allowances for new beneficiaries to teaching. The total...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Gaelscoileanna Issues (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy is aware, I have indicated that I will shortly bring to Government draft heads of a bill – the Education (Admission to School) Bill 2013. I will seek to publish the Bill in draft form to allow a full public discussion, including inputs from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection and the education partners. I also intend to publish draft...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Legal Matters (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Information relevant to the Deputy's question is currently being compiled. A further reply will issue to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Grants (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy is correct in stating that full-time postgraduate courses of not less than one year duration in Queen's University, Belfast are approved under the Student Grant Scheme. I understand that the grant application from the student in question was unsuccessful and that she appealed this decision to the appeals officer in Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) who upheld the original...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Provision (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Failte Ireland's remit includes that it "encourage, promote and support the recruitment, training, and education and development, of persons for the purposes of employment in connection with the tourism industry in the State". However, my Department has a broader concern that training and education offerings are aligned with the needs of industry. Officials of my Department met...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The purpose of the pilot study undertaken by my Department was to develop an inventory of education infrastructure and related community assets in five areas in the country. The geographic areas included for the pilot study were Tuam, Navan, Clonmel, Portlaoise, and part of Limerick City. The research information gathered from this pilot study was in a format compatible with current...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The information requested by the Deputy is available on my Departments website at www.education.gov.ie by clicking on 'Schools and Colleges', then 'Building Works' and selecting the relevant headings. The Deputy will appreciate that information on the levels of funding approved are commercially sensitive and cannot be released until the projects have been fully completed.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Textbooks Rental Scheme (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: It is a matter for the Board of Management of each individual school to decide on school policy in relation to the use and choice of textbooks. The Department's Inspectorate, in its work with schools, promotes active learning approaches rather than over-reliance on textbooks and workbooks. The Department has issued Guidelines for Developing Textbook Rental Schemes in Schools and these...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Applications (16 Jul 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: As part of the Government's budgetary considerations and the Comprehensive Expenditure Review carried out in 2011, a decision was made to abolish payments by this Department towards the cost of attendance at Gaeltacht courses by students commencing their programme of primary initial teacher education. The decision came into effect for the 2012/13 academic year. As the Deputy will be aware,...