Results 5,181-5,200 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Guidance Counsellors (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Since September 2012 guidance provision is now being organised by school management from within the standard staffing schedule allocation. In this way principals have discretion to balance guidance needs with the pressures to provide subject choice. The representative organisations for School Principals and school management developed a framework that assists schools on how best to manage...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training Provision (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 858 and 859 together. Under the Teaching Council Act the Teaching Council is the regulator and standards body for the teaching profession. Section 39 of the Act, which has not yet been commenced, provides for the Council to review and accredit programmes of continuing professional development for teachers. I intend that section 39 will be commenced as soon...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: There are no plans currently to incorporate Chinese as a subject into the Leaving Certificate curriculum. As part of junior cycle reform, schools are be able to include a short course in Chinese language and culture, prepared by the NCCA, in their junior cycle programme, if they so wish. There is also currently a Transition Year module on Chinese, which was taken by 4,820 students in 2014....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff Remuneration (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The President of UCC wrote to my Department on the 31st March 2015 referring to additional payments made to staff in 2014. The President has since confirmed that the additional payments have ceased. The University has been requested to provide further information to allow my Department establish all of the facts relating to the additional payments.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Gaelscoileanna Issues (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Teacher allocations to all schools are approved annually by my Department in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment. The criteria for the allocation of posts are communicated to school managements annually and are available on the Department website. At post primary level and in addition to teacher allocations based largely on pupil teacher ratios, an...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Universal Support Ireland Administration (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Reconfiguring the application process alongside the CAO applications process is not a straightforward proposition. For example one of the key eligibility criteria for receiving grant funding is the assessment of reckonable income. Income details supplied by Revenue and/or Department of Social Protection for the relevant period for assessment purposes would not be available when the CAO...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Capitation Grants (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department provides capitation funding to all recognised primary and post primary schools within the free education scheme. My Department provides funding to primary schools by way of per capitagrants, subject to a minimum grant equivalent to 60 pupils and a maximum grant equivalent to 500 pupils. In 2014, €188million was provided in per capita grant funding to primary...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Council for Special Education (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 866 and 867 together. I wish to advise the Deputy that Project Iris is a longitudinal study commissioned by the National Council for Special Education to examine the provision of special education in Irish schools and the outcomes and experiences of students with special educational needs (SEN). The report from this study is currently being finalised in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Autism Support Services (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 868 and 869 together. Group arrangements are put in place where parents/guardians of children who are eligible for home tuition seek alternative arrangements and my Department responds to, and facilitates the parents/guardians, by putting in place agreements with private pre-school providers which provide group tuition to children in a class type setting....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Capitation Grants (26 May 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: School Staffing (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Statistics Section of my Department's website contains extensive data relating to schools at primary and post-primary level. The most recent published information relates to the 2013/2014 school year. Based on the published information for the 2013/14 school year there were 1,829 teacher principal posts at primary level. Data in relation to the 2014/15 school year will be published...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Equality Issues (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The process I announced recently to renew the DEIS Programme has a number of strands: a consultation process with the education partners to inform the development of appropriate measures to tackle educational disadvantage; an inter-Departmental Group to ensure a joined-up approach to delivery of services in DEIS; and a Technical Group to develop a revised identification process for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Information and Communications Technology (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Digital Strategy for Schools will be finalised in the coming weeks and sets out an ambitious five plan to further embed ICT in teaching, learning and assessment. Under this Strategy the Department will identify a set of funding priorities annually over the lifetime of the Digital Strategy. The annual funding plans will take cognisance of the economic climate and the availability of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: My focus in Budget 2015 was on obtaining the additional funding that was necessary to provide for demographic growth. 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. This funding will be used to provide 1,700 additional teachers and SNAs for our schools, as well as to fund...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The main criteria of the Free Fees Initiative provides that students must be first-time undergraduates, holdinter alia EU/EEA/Swiss nationality in their own right, and have been ordinarily resident in an EU/EEA/Swiss state for at least three of the five years preceding their entry to an approved third level course. Assistance under the scheme is not available for courses at postgraduate...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Victim Support Services (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I met with representatives of the group Right to Peace on 22nd April having previously met with them in December 2014. A range of issues were discussed at the meeting and I will be writing to the representatives to follow-up on a number of issues shortly. Section 20(7) of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act, 2012 provides that decisions of Caranua on applications made to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Victim Support Services (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Towards Healing, which is funded by the Catholic Church, provides counselling and related support to survivors of institutional, clerical or religious abuse and their families. My Department has no function in relation to this service and provides no funding to it. As the Deputy may be aware Caranua, the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board, has agreed a Memorandum of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Universal Support Ireland Administration (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The following table details the number of students, by county, who following review by SUSI have had their student grant revoked and their eligibility subsequently refused in the academic year 2014/15 to date. These applicants have since been informed that they are liable for repayment of any overpayments made in respect of any payments having previously been awarded. These 165...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Exchequer funds tuition fee 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 EU/EEA/Swiss state for at least...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (26 May 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department remains committed to providing permanent accommodation for the school to which he refers. The Deputy is aware that it is intended that the school will relocate to a premises currently occupied by a special school pending the construction of its new school. The Major Building Project for the special school is currently at an advanced stage of...