Results 5,601-5,620 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Applications (7 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Officials in my Department have confirmed with Student Universal Support Ireland that the student referred to by the Deputy has been awarded a grant and an award letter issued on 4th March, 2013.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (7 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The Major Building Project for the school referred to by the Deputy is at an early stage of architectural planning. The schools Design Team are currently working on a Revised Stage 1 Submission. Due to competing demands on my Department's capital budget, imposed by the need to prioritise the limited funding available for the provision of additional school accommodation to meet increasing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Education Budget: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (6 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: There will be movement fairly soon on section 37. On DEIS schools we do not have the information here. I have spoken to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, because her Department is also involved and acts as a kind of link. The present interaction is not satisfactory. I am not sure what we can do about it, but I know it is a problem and I thank Senator Power...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Education Budget: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (6 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: We have, for example, produced guidelines and ways to put in place a book lending and library scheme, showed how it can be done and invited schools to do it. We have provided grants in that direction. There is an element of leading the pack and creating the conditions. If we could have the generic uniforms costed, a parent representative could say the existing uniform costs X and every...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Education Budget: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (6 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: That would do us a great favour if the committee could do the work for us. There is a great deal of pressure on us as we lose staff. If that work was done by the committee, I would be keen to respond to it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Education Budget: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (6 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: We have asked them to come back to us as soon as possible. The sooner we have the information, the sooner we can construct a response. The longer they take, however, the more problematic it becomes for us. If the Deputy has any influence I ask him to use it to get them to speed up the process.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Education Budget: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (6 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Deputy McConalogue also raised the question of career guidance and the mainstreaming effect it has had. The youth crisis in our society that has resulted in tragedies like suicide contains some elements related to the school environment and others from outside our schools. I refer the Deputy to a substantial survey carried out by the National Council for Guidance in Education, the director...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Education Budget: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (6 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: It would not apply to the next academic year. It would be the year after, because there would be issues such as implementation and getting the information. That is assuming we reach a decision fairly quickly. The issue of fee-paying schools was the other one mentioned by most members. Last year, we raised the pupil-teacher ratio for fee-paying schools - 55 of them - from 21:1 to 23:1....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Education Budget: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (6 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: With the Chairperson's permission, I will take the questions that were common to all four questioners first. I will then go back to the individual questions from Deputies McConalogue, O'Brien and Ó Ríordáin. As regards capital assets, the only assessment made in the allocation of application for support is on the income of the family house. No other asset test is currently...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Education Budget: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (6 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: We live in difficult times, as all members know. My commitment to fairness in society remains strong and is made very clear in the 2013 education budget. The pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools has been protected for the 2013-14 school year. For mainstream schools, this is the second year in a row that we have managed to protect the pupil-teacher ratios, despite the pressures on the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Public Sector Pensions (6 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform has decided that public servants who retire before the end of August 2014 will have their pension and lump sum calculated by reference to the current pay rates, i.e. the rates before the pay reductions which will apply from 1st July 2013.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (6 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department has no record of having received an application from the school referred to by the Deputy for the replacement of prefabricated accommodation. The school concerned was approved funding in April 2012 under the Pre-Fab Replacement Scheme to replace a rented prefab and I understand that construction is well advanced. In addition, my Department provided funding of €250,576...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Appeals (6 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 88 and 89 together. Where an appeal is upheld i.e. the original decision was overturned, it is understood from Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) that it is currently taking 12 working days to re-process it. The process involved in finalising an appeal upheld by SUSI is that these cases are referred in date order to an assessment team to be reviewed....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Appeals (6 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Officials in my Department have confirmed with Student Universal Support Ireland that in the case of the student referred to by the Deputy, her student grant application was appealed to the appeals officer in SUSI and the original decision was overturned. The student's application was reassessed and on the 28th February 2013, a revised award letter issued to the student.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Physical Education Facilities (6 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 91 and 104 together. I understand that the Deputy's office has confirmed that the question relates to the funding streams that are available to local schools for the facilities in question. The Physical Education curriculum has been designed on the basis that facilities in schools may vary. Many primary schools have a general purpose room and practically...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (6 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to inform the Deputy that the data sought by him is not readily available. I will arrange to have the data collated and forwarded to the Deputy as soon as it is available.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (6 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The overall enrolment in primary schools in the Tralee feeder area in 2011 was 4,056 pupils and the projected overall enrolment for 2015 is 3,938 pupils. This represents a slight decrease of 3%.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (6 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The overall enrolment in primary schools in the Killarney feeder area in 2011 was 2,932 pupils and the projected overall enrolment for 2015 is 3,126 pupils. This represents a slight increase of 7%.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (6 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The overall enrolment in primary schools in the Listowel feeder area in 2011 was 1,283 pupils and the projected overall enrolment for 2015 is 1,352 pupils. This represents a slight increase of 5%.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (6 Mar 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The overall enrolment in primary schools in the Dingle feeder area in 2011 was 632 pupils and the projected overall enrolment for 2015 is 620 pupils. This represents a slight decrease of 2%.