Results 581-600 of 623 for speaker:Síle de Valera

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (7 Jul 2004)

Síle de Valera: Section 7(7) provides that the services of the council or the health board must be made available as soon as practicable. This was introduced on Report Stage in the Lower House when we took on board the issues there. For this reason, I consider that the amendment is unnecessary.

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (7 Jul 2004)

Síle de Valera: The Senator is correct that a person's cultural background must be respected. That is already the case in legislation, including the Education Act and the Official Languages Act. That is why I cannot accept these amendments. It goes back to the point that was raised before and has already been accepted by Senator O'Toole.

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (7 Jul 2004)

Síle de Valera: The amendment refers specifically to a person's cultural background and, although Senator Burke's point is a separate one, I will deal with it. He is naturally concerned as to whether there will be expertise to deal with these particular issues. I believe that there is and I also believe that there will be definite references to further teacher training, whether inservice or in teacher...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Committee Stage (Resumed). (7 Jul 2004)

Síle de Valera: The amendment is unnecessary. Principals must request the council to prepare an educational plan where one cannot be prepared by the school. Equally, under section 5(8), a health board must make available the statement of findings to anyone involved in the education of the child to ensure that they are informed of the child's educational needs. Therefore, I do not consider that this amendment...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (1 Jul 2004)

Síle de Valera: I thank the Senators who contributed to this Second Stage debate. Not only have many Members shown a great interest in the Bill, but many of them have shown that they have a great deal of knowledge of the subject. It is always useful in such debates to hear concrete examples such as those we have heard this evening. As we are dealing with a sensitive issue, it is important to deal with it in...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (1 Jul 2004)

Síle de Valera: The reference to the Minister for Finance in section 13 ensures that when he exercises his constitutional duty to control expenditure, he is reminded of the State's duty in Article 42 to make proper provision for the education of all the children of the State. He will have to ensure that those who need the most help get the most help.

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (1 Jul 2004)

Síle de Valera: Section 13 is unique in shaping the exercise of this discretion. If the Minister for Finance fails to make adequate resources available to the Ministers for Health and Children and Education and Science to discharge their duties under the Act, those who suffer as a consequence may have grounds for a review of the Minister's failure in the High Court. Section 13 provides an essential guarantee...

Seanad: Election Management System. (1 Jul 2004)

Síle de Valera: I apologise on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, who regrets he cannot be here for this debate but he has asked me to make the following remarks on his behalf. I thank the Senator for raising this matter. It is important to point out that unlike the situation regarding Dáil constituencies, there are no constitutional or statutory requirements regarding the frequency of...

Seanad: Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Bill 2003: Second Stage (Resumed). (30 Jun 2004)

Síle de Valera: While I appreciate Senators' kind remarks, it is only fair to point out that the Bill is primarily the responsibility of the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Noel Dempsey. It would not be fair of me to take the plaudits but I am happy to play a supporting role.

Seanad: Hospital Services. (29 Jun 2004)

Síle de Valera: The Minister apologises for being unable to be here this evening and he has asked me to reply to the debate on his behalf. As the House is aware, the report on the development of radiation oncology services was published in October 2003. The recommendations of the report, which have been accepted and endorsed by the Government, provide the only sustainable plan for the future development of...

Seanad: Post Leaving Certificate Programme. (29 Jun 2004)

Síle de Valera: I welcome the opportunity to address the Seanad and thank Senator Feighan for raising the matter of post leaving certificate course provision. The PLC programme was introduced in 1985 with aid from the European Social Fund to provide integrated general education, vocational training and work experience for young people who had completed upper second level education or equivalent. PLC...

Seanad: Schools Building Projects. (5 May 2004)

Síle de Valera: I thank the Senator for raising this matter as it gives me the opportunity to outline to the House the strategy for capital investment in education projects and also to outline the position regarding Kilfinane national school, Kilfinane, County Limerick. Kilfinane national school is a co-educational primary school with a current enrolment of 134 pupils. Enrolments have decreased in recent...

Early School Leavers. (30 Mar 2004)

Síle de Valera: The link between low levels of educational attainment and unemployment is well documented. My Department's White Paper on Adult Education, Learning for Life, identified the need for targeted interventions so as to encourage and support the participation of certain priority groups in adult education. In particular, the White Paper highlighted the allocation of additional resources to address...

Early School Leavers. (30 Mar 2004)

Síle de Valera: The Deputy is correct in saying that the national development plan and the programme for Government target further education. Both those documents commit to continue to invest in adult literacy and to increase the investment in adult learning generally. Certain statistics, particularly those from the OECD, prove that Ireland has not done badly in terms of literacy. However, the Government has...

Early School Leavers. (30 Mar 2004)

Síle de Valera: The Government funds the work done by NALA and is very happy to support that agency. We have pinpointed the need to address literacy in the workplace. The fund has not yet been established and I am investigating that matter. I am not in a position to give the commitment today.

School Transport. (30 Mar 2004)

Síle de Valera: Following a review of the school transport scheme and taking into consideration the recommendations of the joint Oireachtas committee report on school transport, a number of improvements were introduced in 2001. These included reducing the qualifying distance for eligibility for school transport for primary school pupils aged ten and over from three to two miles, so that all primary pupils...

School Transport. (30 Mar 2004)

Síle de Valera: To provide school transport nationally, in 1997 less than £50 million was spent on school transport. In 2004 this will be more than €100 million. The Deputy spoke about the charges to students to use these buses. This contributes only total €6 million per annum of the €100 million needed to run the service. We needed a review of how best to continue to provide a service that enables...

School Transport. (30 Mar 2004)

Síle de Valera: The Deputy asked for the facts and figures on the school transport system. Some 140,000 schoolchildren travel every day and almost 2,900 buses service more than 5,000 routes. Of the 2.900 buses, 2,300 are owned by approximately 1.150 private contractors. In the region of 9,000 children with special needs are included in the overall figure of 140,000.

School Transport. (30 Mar 2004)

Síle de Valera: I am not allowed to answer.

Further Education. (30 Mar 2004)

Síle de Valera: Most colleges offering post-leaving certificate courses are operated under the management of the vocational education committees. Funding is provided for pay and non-pay costs on the basis of the approved number of places on approved courses run by the colleges. In the current academic year, enrolments on post-leaving certificate courses in certain schools and colleges have exceeded the...