Results 4,721-4,740 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Deputy will be aware that 11,330 whole time equivalent Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts have been made available to the NCSE to allocate to schools to end of the current school year. This is the highest number of SNAs that we have ever had and it has ensured that children with special educational needs can continue to participate in education and be supported in a manner appropriate...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Caranua, the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board, is an independent statutory body established pursuant to the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012 to oversee the use of the cash contributions of up to €110 million, pledged by the religious congregations, to support the needs of survivors of institutional child abuse. To date a total of €81.77 million,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: For student grants purposes, students are categorised according to their circumstances either as students dependent on parents or a legal guardian, or as independent mature students. A student may be assessed as an independent mature student if he or she has attained the age of 23 on the 1st of January of the year of first entry to an approved course or of re-entry following a break in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Grants (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The current qualifying distance of 45km for the higher non-adjacent rate of student grant, takes into account a reasonable radius within which students may commute on a daily basis. The measurement of the distances relating to the award of adjacent or non-adjacent rates of student grant is a matter for the relevant grant awarding authority. The distance measurement for student grant rates is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Deputy will be aware that 11,330 whole time equivalent Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts have been made available to the NCSE to allocate to schools to end of the current school year. This is the highest number of SNAs that we have ever had and it has ensured that children with special educational needs can continue to participate in education and be supported in a manner...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department has a number of strategies and initiatives in place to ensure that education and training meets the skills requirements of the workplace. SOLAS, with the assistance of relevant experts such as the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), employers and local and national organisations, have published a five year strategy for the further education and training sector which...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 575 and 581 together. Teacher allocations to all schools are approved annually by my Department in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment. The staffing schedule operates in a clear and transparent manner and treats all similar types of schools equally irrespective of location. At primary level, it currently operates on the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 576 and 577 together. There are now more additional special needs teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs) supporting children with special educational needs in our schools than at any time previously. The NCSE allocated 6,454 resource teacher posts to schools for September 2015, which is an increase of 554 posts - or 9.4% - since September 2014. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 578 and 584 together. The information requested by the Deputy is not available in the format requested however, a total of 93 new primary schools and 36 new post-primary schools were completed over the five year period 2010 to 2014. Of these, 8 primary schools and 1 post primary school were in County Kildare. For the immediate future the Deputy will be...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: A total of 129 new schools were completed over the five year period 2010 to 2014. This total number comprises 93 new primary schools and 36 new post-primary schools. For the immediate future the Deputy will be aware from the school building programme announcement last December that there are a total of 196 large scale projects either at construction or with approval to advance to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Bullying in Schools (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: There is no requirement on schools to report bullying incidents to my Department. The Deputy will be aware that my Department published new anti-bullying procedures for all primary and post primary schools at the beginning of the 2013/14 school year. These procedures are designed to give direction and guidance to school authorities and school personnel in preventing and tackling...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staffing (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 582 and 583 together. There are now more additional teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs) supporting children with special educational needs in our schools than at any time previously. The NCSE allocated 6,454 resource teacher posts to schools for September 2015, which is an increase of 554 posts - or 9.4% - since September 2014. Details of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The staffing arrangements for primary schools for the 2015/16 school year are set out in Department Circular 0005/2015 which is available on my Department's website. The circular sets out the improvements to the staffing schedule for the 2015/16 school year for small schools. These improvements are improved retention thresholds for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th classroom teacher and also the improved...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The staffing arrangements for primary schools for the 2015/16 school year are set out in Department Circular 0005/2015 which is available on my Department's website. The circular sets out the improvements to the staffing schedule for the 2015/16 school year for small schools. These improvements are improved retention thresholds for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th classroom teacher and also the improved...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The staffing arrangements for primary schools for the 2015/16 school year are set out in Department Circular 0005/2015 which is available on my Department's website. The circular sets out the improvements to the staffing schedule for the 2015/16 school year for small schools. These improvements are improved retention thresholds for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th classroom teacher and also the improved...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Patronage (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: My recent announcement of two new policy measures to better support the sustainability of small schools clearly shows my support for the smaller schools. The first measure provides for improved teacher retention thresholds to be introduced for some small schools commencing in the next school year. It also provides for an improved teacher appointment threshold for isolated one-teacher...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Facilities (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 589 and 590 together. I appreciate that there are concerns regarding the availability of accommodation for students in certain parts of the country and for that reason I have asked the HEA to report on this issue. The HEA are currently working on a draft report on student accommodation which will be available shortly and will give us an up to date picture...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Refurbishment (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I can confirm to the Deputy that the school to which he refers has applied to my Department for large scale capital funding for the replacement of a school gymnasium with a new facility. As the Deputy will be aware, the school's request must be considered in the context of the financial constraints imposed by the need, as outlined in my Department's Five Year Capital investment programme,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Gaelscoileanna Issues (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department is currently examining the extent and location of additional post-primary places that will be needed on a nationwide basis from 2017 onwards. This will include an examination of the north Kildare area. A submission received from a Patron body in relation to all-Irish provision in north Kildare will be taken into consideration as part of this examination. In the meantime, my...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Universal Support Ireland Administration (30 Jun 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I am informed by SUSI that it received circa 104,000 applications for the 2014/15 academic year. As at 26th June 2015, 51 applications for the 2014/15 academic year have yet to be finalised. Of these, SUSI is awaiting documentation from the applicant in 33 cases, with the remaining 18 cases currently being reviewed by SUSI. The majority of these cases have already received a decision from...