Results 4,641-4,660 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Post-Leaving Certificate Courses (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that the College referred to by the Deputy is an approved post-leaving certificate centre which is managed and funded by City of Dublin Vocational Educational Committee from funding provided by my Department. Post-leaving certificate centres provide further education courses up to Level 6 on the National Framework of Qualifications. However, my Department has...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Reform (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: For the 2012-13 academic year, Student Universal Support Ireland was staffed to the level that had been requested. For 2013-14, additional resources recommended by the Independent Review carried out by Accenture have already been sanctioned. The sanction of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform was received on 15 May 2013 for 23 additional seasonal Clerical Officer level posts,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training Provision (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The revised proposals put forward by the Labour Relations Commission for the Public Service Stability Agreement 2013-16 provide for additional time under the supervision and substitution scheme to be used in the following ways: from the start of the 2013-14 school year, for all uncertified sick leave absences in schools, subject to normal alleviation measures in schools; and from the start of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training Provision (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: As part of the Government's budgetary considerations and the Comprehensive Expenditure Review carried out in 2011, it was decided to abolish payments by this Department towards the cost of attendance at Gaeltacht courses by initial teacher education students with effect from September 2012. To assist with the costs of the Gaeltacht placement, students who are in receipt of a student grant...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that a significant number of sections of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act have been commenced, principally those establishing the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and those promoting an inclusive approach to the education of children with special educational needs. In light of the difficult economic situation and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 and 91 together. Last year, I requested the NCSE to review and make recommendations on the supports that we provide to children with special educational needs and how they are allocated, to ensure we are delivering the best possible educational experience and outcomes for our children. The NCSE has published its policy advice on Support Students with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Retention Rates (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Information in relation to students who drop out of college is not available in the format requested. The Deputy would be aware that affordability is just one of the factors that impact on students' continued participation in higher education. There are a range of wider factors that also impact on participation, including social and cultural issues, prior academic attainment and teacher and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Fee Paying Schools (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I assume the Deputy is referring to fee-charging schools at post-primary level. Twelve schools have made contact with the Department. The level of engagement to date varies from school to school. Where the authorities of a school approach the Department about entering the Free Education scheme, it is because they are concerned about the future viability of the school and wish to explore...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The purpose of the July Education Programme is to extend the school year for children with Autism and with Severe or Profound General Learning Disabilities to assist participating children in maintaining their learning. The programme is normally run over the month of July. Where school-based provision is not feasible, 10 hours per week home-based provision may be grant-aided to eligible...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 89 and 103 together. The Programme for Government sets out that education will be a priority for this Government and that we will endeavour to protect and enhance the educational experience of children, young people and students. Approximately 15% of the entire budget of my Department – some €1.3 billion – was spent in support of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Textbooks (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Tackling the costs associated with school is a major priority of mine and there are practical steps that schools can take to reduce these costs for parents. One such step is the establishment of Textbook Rental Schemes by schools. I am very much in favour of schools establishing such schemes. Schools that have such rental schemes can save parents up to 80% of the cost of buying new books....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Early Childhood Education (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The joint pilot inspection carried out by my Department's Inspectorate and the HSE's pre-school Inspectorate arose from an action included in the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy. Under this action, the two Inspectorates were required to co-operate on the development and pilot testing of a joint inspection arrangement for evaluation of early years provision in pre-schools funded the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Administration (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The City of Dublin VEC commissioned an external review of SUSI, to identify the causes of the difficulties and to set out a specific programme of action to address them, so as to ensure that similar difficulties and delays will not be experienced for 2013/14. The Review examined the business systems and processes deployed by SUSI and assessed their adequacy in delivering on the overall...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The major building project at the schools referred to by the Deputy is at an early stage of Architectural Planning. The Boards of Management and their Design Team have recently been authorised to proceed to complete Stage 2A of Architectural Planning, which is the Developed Sketch Design Stage. Due to competing demands on my Department's capital budget, imposed by the need to prioritise the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Recruitment (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The revised proposals put forward by the Labour Relations Commission for the Public Service Stability Agreement 2013-2016 contain a number of commitments to help newly qualified teachers secure permanent positions in the Education sector. An Expert Group is to be established to consider and report on the level of fixed-term and part-time employment in teaching, having regard to the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staffing (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy will be aware that my Department has published a Value for Money (VFM) and Policy Analysis Review of the Special Needs Assistant scheme. This review is available on my Departments website: www.education.gov.ie. The Review has shown that the SNA Scheme has been successful in supporting schools in meeting the needs of students with disabilities who also have significant care needs....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Remuneration (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Teachers are employed by the managerial authorities of schools. An appropriately qualified and registered teacher being appointed for the first time in September 2013 will commence on a salary scale of €30,702 per annum. The full salary scales for appropriately qualified and registered teachers being appointed for the first time with effect from the 1st February 2012 are outlined in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 99, 114 and 115 together. The Deputies will be aware that in the context of Budget 2012, I announced a three year phased adjustment to increase the relevant pupil thresholds for small schools with four teachers or less. The staffing arrangements in small primary schools are considerably more favourable than other medium to larger schools. The budget measure...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department is unaware of instances where rental grant for prefabricated classrooms has been provided to schools for autism units and where such units have not yet opened. Grants are provided where the need to establish such units has been established and approved by the National Council for Special Education. However, if the Deputy has a specific school in mind, he might wish to provide...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (28 May 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is at an advanced stage of architectural planning. Due to competing demands on the Department's capital budget imposed by the need to prioritise the limited funding available for the provision of additional school accommodation to meet increasing demographic requirements it was not possible to include this project in the 5...