Results 4,341-4,360 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Advertising (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: For the Deputy's information, the Department's advertising costs in 2013 was €321,598.57 and in 2014 was €147,997.16. Expenditure on public advertisements is incurred in connection with a wide range of educational programmes and schemes including staff appointments in the education sector, invitations to attend local hearings, invitations to forward submissions on...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Expenditure (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Department's printing cost in 2013 was €163,502.42 and in 2014 was €101,847.07.As printing documentation is not categorised, the figures represent the total cost of printing undertaken by the Department including reports and other official documents, leaflets etc. In relation to the Department's annual report the Deputy should note that the Department's policy is to publish...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Expenditure (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The total cost in 2013 and 2014 of issuing hard copy payslips to staff of my Department is set out below. Included in this total are costs associated with stationery, postage and printer maintenance. 2013 – €4,795; 2014 – €1,355. In March 2013 my Department commenced rollout of an online payslips facility, beginning with staff in the Department's headquarters...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Expenditure (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The information sought is being compiled at present and will be forwarded to the Deputy shortly.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Funding (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department's capital investment plan for the entire education sector will be considered in the context of a multi annual capital investment framework covering the period 2016 to 2020 which will be concluded with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Details of the investment programme are expected to be announced later this year. Investment plans for the Universities and the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Ministerial Appointments (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Department officials will check records relating to board appointments and I will revert to you should any relevant information be located. I should like to make the Deputy aware that comprehensive information in relation to the composition of the boards of non-commercial State bodies under the aegis of the Department of Education and Skills, which includes information on the board...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The 2015 Gross Expenditure Allocation for my Department is €8,585 million, made up of Current Expenditure- €8,018 million and Capital Expenditure- €567 million. Provisional Gross Expenditure to end-June 2015 of €4,156 million is running €2 million or 0.05% behind the profiled figure of €4,158 million - €11 million behind on Current Expenditure...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Expenditure (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: There has been no overall assessment of the potential savings that could arise from the digitisation of application processes. However it is my Department's aim to increase the range of services available online 24/7 to its customers. Examples of such online systems, include the online Claims System (OLCS) used by almost 4,000 primary and post-primary schools to submit details of school...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Remuneration (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I understand from the information that you have provided that your constituent works as a Resource Worker for the Adult Literacy Service. The position is that there is no scheme for the award of incremental credit to such Resource Workers. Furthermore, my Department has no plans to introduce such a scheme as it would be contrary to Government policy to do so. The details of a separate case...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: As the Deputy is aware the Exchequer funds tuition fees costs in respect of eligible students who are pursuing full-time undergraduate courses of study under my Department's Free Fees Initiative. The main conditions of the scheme are that students must be first-time undergraduates, hold inter alia EU/EEA/Swiss nationality in their own right, and have been ordinarily resident in an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Reports (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Department's annual report for 2014 was published in June 2015 and can be viewed on the Department's website via the following link, www.education.ie/en/Publications/Corporate-Reports/Annual-Re port/Department-of-Education-and-Skills-Annual-Report-2014.p df.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards Staff (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department is engaged in a project to devise future complementary organisational designs for ETBs and SOLAS in order to reflect their new roles. The objectives of the project are to ensure that the ETBs and SOLAS are fit for purpose; to ensure that the organisational design of ETBs and SOLAS are aligned to their new roles and to each other; to put in place a plan with practical levers...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I can confirm that my Department has received an application from Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board (GRETB) to refurbish its offices at Lanesboro Street, Roscommon. A feasibility report submitted by GRETB has been examined by officials in my Department and I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department will be in further contact with GRETB regarding its application in the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Reform (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Student grant applications are means tested on gross income from all sources earned inside and outside the State within a specified reference period. The means test arrangements of the Student Grant Scheme are applied nationally on the same basis to both employed and self-employed applicants. Gross income before the deduction of income tax or universal social charge, is assessed with certain...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Support Schemes (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 685 and 686 together. As the Deputy is aware, an Expert Group, chaired by Peter Cassells has been established to examine future funding options for higher education. The objective is to identify a range of approaches that, combined, will achieve a sustainable funding base to address the continual expansion of the sector while protecting the quality of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staffing (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I wish to advise the Deputy that I recently announced that I had secured Government approval for an additional 610 Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts which may be made available for allocation to schools to support children with special educational needs with assessed care needs. From the beginning of September, there will be 11,820 whole time equivalent SNA posts available in schools to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Capitation Grants (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The last Budget included an increase in spending on education for the first time in recent years, amounting to additional funding of €60m during 2015. That increase has provided funding for 1,700 additional teachers and SNAs to be recruited for our schools, as well as funding important reforms. However, it was not possible to secure the funding which would be required to also...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Council for Special Education (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I wish to advise the Deputy that on 21st May, 2015, I announced that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) will increase its allocation of Resource Teacher Posts to schools by over 9% for the start of the coming school year. The NCSE will allocate 6,454 resource teacher posts to schools for September 2015, which is an increase of 554 posts-or 9.4% since September 2014. Even in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Springboard Programme (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Springboard which was introduced in 2011, is a specific initiative that strategically targets funding of free higher education courses in areas where there are real, identified labour market skills shortages or employment opportunities. The annual cost of Springboard since 2011 is as follows: 2011 - €8.7m 2012 - €10.1m 2013 - €18.3m 2014 - €23.6m

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (16 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: An examination of the apprenticeship data in the existing trades demonstrates there was a 40% increase in the number of apprentice registrations in 2014 compared to 2013. The prognosis forecast for future apprenticeships registrations remains strong. The number of apprentices being registered in 2015 by employers is 17% higher than the corresponding time in 2014. SOLAS has forecast an annual...