Results 5,141-5,160 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is at an advanced stage of architectural planning. The Design team are currently working on the completion of stage 2(b) which includes the preparation of tender documents. Due to competing demands on the Department's capital budget imposed by the need to prioritise the limited funding available for the provision of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I am aware of the financial access issues in relation to fees and grants being encountered by children of non-EU migrants entering and attending higher education courses. These issues are currently under consideration. The Deputy will however appreciate in the current economic climate that any decision in relation to changes to either the Free Fees Schemes or the Student Grant Scheme will...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Design (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: To qualify for the special rate of grant an applicant must meet the following conditions: 1. Reckonable income must not exceed €22,703. 2. On the 31st December of the relevant period the reckonable income must include an eligible long-term payment prescribed under the scheme. In the case of a dependent candidate, the reckonable income taken into account is that of the candidate and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The health and safety of school staff and pupils is a fundamental aspect of the day-to-day management of schools. My Department has a role in supporting schools in relation to how they discharge those responsibilities. The survey conducted by IMPACT can be valuable in informing best practice in schools and I hope it will be made available to my Department and others. On receipt of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Residential Institutions Issues (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I appointed the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board with effect from 25th March 2013. A copy of the Press Release issued, with the members' details, is being forwarded to the Deputy. The Board will oversee the use of the cash contributions of up to €110 million, pledged by the religious congregations, to support the needs of some 15,000 survivors of institutional child...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy will be aware of this Government's ongoing commitment to ensuring that all children with special educational needs, including those with Down syndrome, can have access to an education appropriate to their needs. The policy of my Department is to secure the maximum possible level of inclusion of students with special educational needs in mainstream primary and post-primary schools,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Physical Education (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Currently all primary and post primary schools provide P.E. as part of the curriculum and approved syllabuses are in place. The recommended time allocation for P.E. is 1 hour per week at primary level and two hours per week at post primary. This time allocation allows for the delivery of a broad and balanced P.E. programme that enables students to achieve the learning outcomes associated with...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staffing (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Of all NCSE approved resource teaching hours in the 2012/13 school year, 85% were allocated to schools that had resource base posts. A network of over 2,500 full-time resource posts has been put in place in close to 1,700 base schools throughout the country. Base schools are required to co-operate with their neighbouring schools to ensure that any surplus capacity in the (25 hour) resource...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations Reviews (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The Leaving Certificate is a high stakes examination. It provides a direct entry access route to further and higher education and the labour market. This is no longer true of the Junior Certificate for the vast majority of students. Just as we reached a point in 1967, where there was no longer a need for a state examined Primary Certificate, I believe we have now reached that point in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Grants Eligibility Criteria (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy will be aware that, following agreement in principle by the Government to broaden the current means testing arrangements for student grants by way of inclusion of the value of capital assets, I set up a dedicated implementation group to bring forward detailed proposals. I have received a draft report from the implementation group. This is currently under consideration and I will...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Textbooks (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy may be aware I launched new "Guidelines for Developing Textbook Rental Schemes in Schools" on 28 January last. These Guidelines provide practical advice to primary and post-primary schools on how rental schemes can be established and operated. The aim of the Guidelines is to help as many schools as possible to start such book rental programmes. The publication of these...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Evidence has shown that disadvantage associated with poverty and social exclusion assumes a multiplier effect where the levels are highly concentrated in schools. DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) the Action Plan for Educational Inclusion remains my Department's policy instrument to address educational disadvantage which focuses on addressing and prioritising the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Bullying in Schools (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: On Tuesday, 29 January 2013, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, and I published an Action Plan on Bullying which sets out 12 actions to help prevent and tackle bullying in primary and second level schools. I have ring-fenced €500,000 to support implementation of these actions this year. Officials from my Department have already commenced work on the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Over the period since the launch of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy in July 2011, there has been significant progress under many of the 41 actions and almost 180 sub-actions. I have increased the time spent on literacy and numeracy at primary level and the revision of the English and Irish curricula is being prioritised in Junior Cycle Reform. Major changes are being made to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Pupil teacher ratios for the 2012/2013 academic year are currently being compiled and will be available during the summer of 2013. Figures for the 2011/2012 academic year are available on the Department's website at http://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Statistics/. The configuration of classes and the deployment of classroom teachers are done at local school level. My Department...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts to schools for the coming school year 2013/14 is set out in Circular 0013/2013, which is available on the Department website. Under the terms of this Circular, where a school is expanding the number of intake classes which would generate a new stream of pupils, the school must have received prior approval for such expansion from both...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Patronage (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 107 and 109 together. A Value for Money examination of small schools is being finalised within my Department and I expect to publish the analysis and findings in the near future. I hope that this report will foster constructive engagement both in the Oireachtas and among all interested parties in looking at the challenges ahead and how best to make provision...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Educational Disadvantage (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to assure the Deputy that ongoing measures to address school attendance, participation and retention are part of the Government's overall strategy to deal with educational disadvantage. DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) is part of a continuum of interventions delivered by my Department to address educational disadvantage including early school leaving from...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Fee Paying Schools (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 110 and 111 together. The salaries of teachers employed within the approved annual staffing allocation for fee charging schools by my Department, are paid by the State; an arrangement that pre-dates the introduction of the Free Education scheme and which exists since the foundation of the State. The estimated cost of these posts is in the order of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (17 Apr 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 112 and 116 together. The 5 Year Construction Plan I announced in March 2012, together with my recent announcement of the 50 school projects from that Plan which are scheduled for construction in the current year as part of a €2 billion capital investment programme, outlines the major school projects that will commence construction over the duration...