Results 5,821-5,840 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Management (31 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Under the provisions of the Education Act 1998, a Patron may appoint a person or persons to manage the school in circumstances where the appointment of a Board is not practicable or where the Patron has dissolved the Board and pending the appointment of a new Board of Management. The school to which the Deputy refers is one of nine community national schools that have been established in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Home Tuition Scheme Eligibility (31 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Deputy will be aware that the purpose of the Home Tuition Scheme is to provide a compensatory educational service for children who, for a number of reasons such as chronic illness, are unable to attend school. The scheme also provides a compensatory educational service for children awaiting a suitable educational placement and for early intervention for children with autism. I wish to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Sports Facilities Provision (31 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department's over-riding objective is to ensure that every child has access to a physical school place and that our school system is in a position to cope with increasing numbers. This will continue to be the main focus for investment by my Department in the coming years therefore it is not possible to provide funding for the provision of an astroturf pitch at the school referred to by the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Disadvantaged Areas Scheme Eligibility (31 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I wish to advise the Deputy that general allocation and language support have been combined into a single and simplified allocation for all primary schools. The GAM/EAL allocation for each school is based on the number of mainstream classroom teaching posts in the school. In addition, a differential in the GAM/EAL allocation for DEIS Band 1 schools is applied on the basis of 0.4 of a post if...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (31 Mar 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.An appeals process is available to schools under certain criteria. Details of the appeals criteria are set out in the published staffing arrangements. The school referred to by the Deputy submitted an appeal to the March, 2015...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Patronage (31 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The vast majority of schools are privately owned i.e. the site/building is owned by the relevant school patron. Where school building projects are funded through grant-aid, the Department secures these grants through leases (known as Charging Leases or Declarations of Trust) with the relevant landowner. These leases protect the Minister's capital investment in the school property and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Applications (31 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I wish to advise the Deputy that in 2013, the school in question was approved funding for the provision of a construction room and preparation area. This project is being delivered by the school management and is currently on site. In 2011, my Department approved funding to the school for additional classroom accommodation together with a science laboratory. This project has since been...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staffing (31 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The position is that the provisions of the Job Sharing Scheme for Special Needs Assistants in Recognised Primary and Post-Primary Schools are outlined in my Department's Circular Letter 41/2014. In accordance with the Circular, Special Needs Assistants may apply to share a wholetime post on a 50:50 basis i.e. 16 hours per week in both Primary and Post Primary Schools. The terms of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Contractors (31 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The proposed building project to provide a new school for Clifden Community School has encountered a number of difficulties since it was authorized to proceed to tender in 2014. As a result of these difficulties, the Department has advised the school that the most expedient and effective means of progressing the project to construction is for the project to be re-tendered. The Design...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (31 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: As previously advised, the information requested by the Deputy is not readily available within my Department and therefore officials of my Department requested the information from the Higher Education Authority. It is estimated that the cost of abolishing fees for part-time postgraduate students would cost the State in the region of €43 million. While the Exchequer meets the cost of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Council of Ireland (31 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The matter raised by the Deputy in Parliamentary Question No. 441 of 17 February was referred for direct reply to the Teaching Council, the body with statutory authority and responsibility for the recognition of teaching qualifications and the registration of teachers. I understand that a comprehensive reply has recently been provided by the Council.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (31 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Officials from my Department have been working very closely with Galway County Council under the Memorandum of Understanding between the Department and the County and City Managers' Association to acquire a suitable site for the school referred to by the Deputy. I can confirm that a suitable site has been identified and the site acquisition process is at an advanced stage. The site...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staffing (31 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The number of SNAs employed in a school depends on the allocation given to the school by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), based on its assessment of the special educational needs of pupils in the school. This allocation can increase or decrease from year to year depending on a variety of factors. My Department has no control over the allocation process to schools and is...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I would like to make some comments on that. My officials had meetings with representatives of unions on this issue and we have taken legal advice. The specific issue in regard to the Corbally case concerns public hearings and what matters should be brought to a public hearing. I indicated on Second Stage that I intended to bring forward an amendment on having hearings in public being the...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The two examples in Ireland are the nursing and midwifery board and the Medical Council. In those cases, hearings are by default held in public unless there is a specific reason for them not to be in public. This is really about giving confidence to the teaching profession, as well as the public, in following that model. The earlier investigations are about ensuring they are appropriate to...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Is the Deputy asking about examples? In Scotland, for example, which is a neighbouring country of similar size of population, the arrangements are for public hearings. We can give the Deputy other examples and come back to him in regard to the position-----

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: It is not, and we do have the exact wording yet.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: It is important that I get the views of the committee, which I appreciate.

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I move amendment No. 1:In page 3, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following: “ ‘Garda Central Vetting Unit’ has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 2012;”. This is a technical amendment to insert a definition of the Garda central vetting unit in the principal Act. This definition being inserted corresponds with the definition used in the National...

Committee on Education and Social Protection: Select Sub-Committee on Education and Skills: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I move amendment No. 2.In page 5, line 26, to delete “Act 2015” and substitute “Act 2015)”. This amendment is necessary to correct a typographical omission in the published Bill by inserting a missing closing bracket after the term "Act 2015".