Results 4,981-5,000 of 8,873 for speaker:Batt O'Keeffe

Residential Institutions Redress Scheme. (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: I am not going to speculate on the court case. The Attorney General and the Government are confident of winning that case.

Residential Institutions Redress Scheme. (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: We have appealed it. The appeal has been lodged. We did so on the basis that we are confident, on foot of the Attorney General's advice, we have an excellent case and we are not satisfied with the result of the court decision. As in other cases, the appropriate course is to allow the appeals process to continue. We will continue to process the 2,000 applications as part of the scheme and...

Residential Institutions Redress Scheme. (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: The Deputy will realise that I am given an allocated time to reply.

Residential Institutions Redress Scheme. (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: There are two aspects to this. One is that we have to await the outcome of decision on the appeal. The second aspect is that a definitive contract and deal was done between the church and State. As far as I am concerned, legally, that is the binding agreement that has been made. From reading the newspapers, I understand that is an indication from the church that it would not be prepared...

Residential Institutions Redress Scheme. (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: I understand there are two properties for which the deeds cannot be found and they may be compensated for by way of cash.

Residential Institutions Redress Scheme. (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: The important point is that we would all like this matter to come to a quick conclusion. The last thing I want to be seen to do is to be in any way interfering with the courts. They are a separate entity, they do their own business, but we would like the appeal to be heard at the earliest possible date.

Written Answers — Third Level Funding: Third Level Funding (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 26 together. The Universities Act, 1997, confers autonomous statutory responsibilities on universities in relation to the day to day management of their affairs. It is a matter for each university to manage their financial resources and to take the necessary steps to ensure that expenditure is kept within the approved budget. There have been...

Written Answers — Departmental Statistics: Departmental Statistics (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: The types of data collected in my Department's Annual Census of Primary schools include information on pupils' age, standard and class, data on entrants, leavers, learning support, pupil retention and teacher data. The Census also collects information on pupils with special educational needs in special classes and special schools. When all school returns have been processed, a series of...

Written Answers — State Examinations: State Examinations (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: Both the Education Act 1998 and the Education for Persons with Special Needs 2004 include a range of provisions to ensure that the educational needs of all students including those with a disability are identified and provided for. In this context, a range of accommodations are provided to enable students with disabilities to access the Certificate examinations. For example enlarged...

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 15 together. I have consistently said that the 2009 Budget required difficult choices to be made across all areas of public expenditure. These decisions were made to control public expenditure and to ensure sustainability in the long run. In this respect Education while protected to a much greater extent than most other areas of public expenditure...

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: I am making a table available on class size data for the school years 1987/88 to 2007/08. This shows the improvements over the twenty year period with the percentage of pupils in classes of less than 20 pupils increasing from 3.3% to 13.8%. It also shows how the percentage of pupils in classes of 30 pupils or more has fallen from almost 68% to just over 20%. The information for the current...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: The Leaving Certificate Biology syllabus aims to ensure that students attain certain skills which include an ability to carry out practical work, laboratory work and fieldwork activities safely and effectively. According to the revised syllabus, students must study and visit one ecosystem. This fieldwork is essential for the effective teaching and learning in this topic. The arrangements for...

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 17 and 25 together. While I have not met with managers of the Protestant fee charging schools I did meet with representatives of the Church of Ireland Board of Education, led by Archbishop John Neill, on 13 November last. The meeting provided me with an opportunity to explain at first hand the context for the budget changes that were of concern to the...

Written Answers — Bogus Educational Institutions: Bogus Educational Institutions (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: Section 52 of the Universities Act, 1997, prohibits the use of the term 'University' where the organisation is engaged in the provision of education services unless the Minister for Education and Science consents to the use of the term. When my Department has become aware of organisations using the term without consent, appropriate action has been taken. In most cases, when the legislative...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: The specific information sought by the Deputy in relation to the cost of postage of notices to Boards of Management is not readily available within my Department. The amount spent by my Department on the distribution of publications to schools etc. cannot be separated from the overall cost of postage issued from my Department. My Department's total expenditure on postage this year to end...

Written Answers — Third Level Education: Third Level Education (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 and 44 together. It is a matter for the Higher Education Authority (HEA) to determine the format of annual reports published by Institutes of Technology. The format of the reports published by individual universities is determined by their respective Governing authorities. I believe the development of appropriate data collection and reporting systems is...

Written Answers — Halla Spóirt: Halla Spóirt (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: Tá an tionscadal dá dtagraíonn an Teachta ag ardchéim pleanála ailtireachta faoi láthair. Machnófar ar dhul chun cinn gach uile tionscadal tógála ar scála mór, an tionscadal seo ina measc, ón túschéim dearaidh go dtí go mbíonn an tógáil déanta, i gcomhthéacs Chlár Tógala agus Athnuachain Scoile Ilbhliantúil mo Roinnse. I bhfianaise na n-éileamh iomaíocha ar...

Written Answers — Water Charges: Water Charges (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: The Government agreed a transition period to full water charges in the case of non-fee charging recognised schools and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has advised local authorities of the detailed arrangements regarding the implementation of this decision. The transitional arrangements afford schools the opportunity to put in place water conservation...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: In 2008, my Department provided grants of €1.23 million to schools for the Leaving Certificate Applied programme. Schools also benefited from an equipment grant, amounting to €5,079 for each school offering the programme. As a result of the need to make savings in Budget 2009, this grant has been abolished with effect from 1 January 2009. The budget required difficult choices to be...

Written Answers — On-line Databases: On-line Databases (4 Dec 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: Irish Higher Education Institutions are currently involved in the development of open access repositories — online storage and retrieval systems where published research findings and papers are stored and made available for full, open and free access by the research community and the general public. In a project funded under Cycle 1 of the Strategic Initiative Fund, a number of Irish...