Results 6,121-6,140 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Other Questions: Higher Education Institutions (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 132 and 160 together. The discussion document in question has been circulated to the higher education institutions by the Higher Education Authority, HEA, to form a basis for further engagement with institutions on an outline configuration for the future higher education system and is not intended to be definitive. I do not propose to comment on specific...

Other Questions: Higher Education Institutions (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Briefly, there are four stages to the process of reconfiguration in the institutes of technology, IOT, sector. I can talk separately about the university and wider third-level college sectors because initial teacher education has been dealt with separately. Both Deputies will be familiar with the proposal whereby 19 institutions have been brought down to six configurations. In respect of...

Other Questions: Education Funding (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I understand what the Deputy is proposing and I have read the comments he has made elsewhere in this regard. In reference to last year's budget, I was not proposing to cut DEIS resources as such. I was trying to equalise out of the system what we refer to as legacy posts in which one school had more resources than another, even though they were both categorised as being in precisely the...

Other Questions: Education Funding (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Yes.

Other Questions: Education Funding (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The process of decision-making - some day, no doubt, the Deputy will be in this process of responsibility - is to examine a proposal and try to assess what its likely impact would be. Part of our difficulty in the further education and current VEC side is that the Department has incomplete information as to the precise detail on the ground. It is a legacy of the past and is one of the...

Other Questions: Education Funding (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I said I would provide additional information to the House on SUSI. Would I be in order to do so now? You can rule on whether or not I should give this information, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I can do it at the end of questions or I can do it now, whichever you rule.

Other Questions: Education Funding (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I will make the figures available to the House so the Deputy does not necessarily have to take them down. The correct figures for the numbers of students paid by SUSI as of last Friday, 18 January, are as follows: awarded to date, 30,658; provisionally awarded, 1,185; total paid grants, 19,743; total paid fee-only awards, 5,949; total overall paid by SUSI, 25,692; and awarded but still...

Other Questions: Further Education and Training Programmes Applications (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Today the Cabinet passed the draft SOLAS legislation and it will be circulated. With the agreement of the whips I hope to take it soon. As I have stated previously, SOLAS will become for the further education sector what the Higher Education Authority is for higher education. The type of statistical information about which the Deputy has asked and which is not available must become...

Other Questions: Further Education and Training Programmes Applications (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I agree with the Deputy and the sooner we make progress in this area the better.

Other Questions: Education Funding (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: Government decisions on reductions in resources in any area are not taken lightly nor are they done in isolation from the likely impact. The key challenge is to do this while also improving outcomes. We all have to achieve more with less. Within the schools sector we know from international research that while class size is a factor the quality of teaching is a far more significant factor...

Other Questions: National Procurement Service (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I will keep a keen interest in this matter, as it is one which concerns me. I will keep the Deputy informed.

Other Questions: Further Education and Training Programmes Applications (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The PLC programme provides an integrated general education, vocational training and work experience programme for young people who have completed their leaving certificate and for adults returning to education. The specific breakdown requested of numbers progressing from PLC courses to higher education is not available as the Higher Education Authority does not hold data on new entrants by...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The point of contact with the Department of Health or the delivery of the relevant services from the overall Department of Health's array of services would be through the National Council for Special Education and not through the Department of Education and Skills per se. In due course the NCSE would advise us as to what level of engagement and what kinds of services it is trying to get and...

Other Questions: National Procurement Service (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The national procurement service is focused on developing centralised arrangements for the procurement of goods and services used commonly across the public service nationwide. The benefits arising from these central arrangements include cash savings, administrative savings from reduced duplication of tendering, greater purchasing expertise, improved consistency and enhanced service levels....

Other Questions: National Procurement Service (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I fully understand the Deputy's point of view, particularly where it relates to a multiplicity of suppliers, for example, in the area of stationery provision. This issue, among others, will be discussed at the meeting on 28 January between the Department and the national procurement service. It is different from electricity or energy suppliers, of which there are, perhaps, only one or two...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The NCSE has been asked to provide policy advice on the appropriate nature and configuration of educational supports which should be allocated to schools to provide a student with special educational needs with the opportunity to participate in and benefit from education and, generally, to develop his or her potential in accordance with sections 4(6) and 7(3) of the EPSEN Act. This advice...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: I will keep the House informed of progress. We are waiting for the NCSE to come back to us with its recommendations.

Other Questions: Croke Park Agreement Review (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: As I said at the outset, I am not going to anticipate the outcome of the current negotiations. All of those on both sides of the table know what the issues are and any comments from me in this House would not be helpful. We must wait and see what progress they make and what progress is possible. We want to continue to correct our public finances, maintain job security for those in the...

Other Questions: Croke Park Agreement Review (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: We are in contact with the main provider in the private sector, Hibernia College, which trains online with educational engagement on an outreach basis for qualified graduates who wish to become primary school teachers. We have no formal relationship with the college that would regulate the number of graduates it can produce. That is a matter for the market as far as the college is...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (22 Jan 2013)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy will be aware that a number of sections of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act have been commenced. However, in the light of the very difficult economic situation and the significant costs involved, the previous Government deferred the full implementation of EPSEN. The National Council for Special Education had suggested that additional investment over a...