Results 6,681-6,700 of 8,873 for speaker:Batt O'Keeffe

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 10 together. My Department's total capital allocation for 2008 is €827m. Just under €600m of this allocation will be invested in school buildings. The extent of the school building and modernisation programme is determined by the annual capital allocation. This has grown steadily in recent years from just under €400m in 2004 to €542m in 2007 and...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: As the Deputy will be aware, my Department has surveyed schools regarding their use of prefabricated accommodation and is in the process of compiling this information. I will write to the Deputy regarding this survey and the information my Department has compiled from it. My Department has undertaken an assessment of the rental of temporary accommodation with a view to identifying the point...

Written Answers — School Enrolments: School Enrolments (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: The audit of school enrolment policies, published on my Department's website on 28 April last, looked at the enrolment of Traveller children, newcomer children and children with special education needs in almost 2,000 schools at primary and post-primary level. The audit also looked at the written enrolment policies of a proportion of these schools and, more tellingly, how these policies...

Written Answers — Telecommunications Services: Telecommunications Services (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: My Department is providing broadband connectivity to recognised primary and post-primary schools under the Schools Broadband Access Programme. This programme is being undertaken in partnership with industry in the context of a Government — IBEC/TIF (Telecommunications and Internet Federation) Agreement to provide local broadband connectivity to schools. The Programme has three elements —...

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 36 together. Universities such as Trinity College Dublin are autonomous academically independent institutions within the meaning of the Universities Act, 1997. My Department does not have any function in relation to their day to day operational affairs. Universities receive a block grant from the Higher Education Authority and it is a matter for each...

Written Answers — Inquiry into Child Abuse: Inquiry into Child Abuse (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was established under statute to investigate child abuse in institutions in the State, to enable persons who have suffered such abuse to give evidence to committees of the Commission and to prepare and publish a report of findings and recommendations considered appropriate for the alleviation of the effects of past child abuse and for the protection...

Written Answers — Third Level Grants: Third Level Grants (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: The purpose of the student grant is to contribute towards the maintenance costs associated with going to college where parental means are likely to be insufficient to meet those costs. I'm sure that the Deputy will agree with me that income thresholds are necessary, therefore, to ensure that this support is properly targeted towards those who are most in need of this assistance. The...

Written Answers — State Examinations: State Examinations (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: I do not propose to adopt a name change for the Leaving Certificate that would cast it in a narrow light with a sole focus on entrance to third level programmes. The general aim of education is to contribute towards the development of all aspects of the individual and the Leaving Certificate comes at an important point in that process, namely, the end of second-level education. The Leaving...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: As the Deputy may be aware, the National Council for Special Education is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for allocating resource teachers and special needs assistants (SNAs) to schools to support children with special needs. Applications for SNAs may be considered by the NCSE where a pupil has a significant medical need for such...

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: In June 2001, the then Minister for Education and Science announced that the Government had approved a programme of structural reform of the Department arising from the recommendations in the Cromien report. The programme consisted of: i. The establishment of a State Examinations Commission (SEC) (para. 32). ii. The establishment of a National Council for Special Education (NCSE) (para. 28)....

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: Education Ireland is a new body which is to be established in line with the recommendations of the Report on the Internationalisation of Education Services. The new body will be responsible for promoting the development of Ireland as a centre of excellence for international education. It will bring together, and build upon, the work of two existing bodies — International Education Board...

Written Answers — State Bodies: State Bodies (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: The information requested by the Deputy has been collated and will be sent to her shortly.

Written Answers — Parliamentary Questions: Parliamentary Questions (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: I am happy to clarify this matter for the Deputy and also to assure him that there was no attempt to mislead him in the reply to his earlier questions. At the time of his previous Parliamentary Questions on 20th February 2008, the issue of patronage of the two new primary school buildings in Gorey referred to by the Deputy had not been decided and finalised. The Department had made a written...

Written Answers — State Examinations: State Examinations (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: The new Leaving Certificate examination schedule for 2008 was agreed with a working group representing the Partners in Education, and was designed to reduce the demand on students especially during the first week of the examinations. It advanced Chemistry, which is sat by some 7000 students, and Geography, sat by some 25000 students, to Thursday and Friday respectively of the first week,...

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: The Programme for Government sets out the overarching policy position in relation to the provision of additional teachers and on reductions in class size over the life of the Government. The Programme contains a commitment to increase the number of primary teachers by at least 4000 and on that basis to make further progress on reducing class sizes. Budget 2008 provided my Department with...

Written Answers — Health Promotion: Health Promotion (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: The subjects Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) and Physical Education (PE), cover, among elements of the syllabus, the areas of healthy eating, healthy lifestyle, physical health, body care, exercise, relaxation and diet. The concepts of 'Balanced Eating' and 'Healthy Exercise' underlie the Junior Cycle and Senior Cycle syllabi in the Home Economics curriculum at post-primary...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: As the Deputy will be aware, my Department contacted approximately 900 schools in September 2007, who were renting temporary accommodation, and asked them to complete a questionnaire regarding the stock of temporary accommodation in their schools. My Department is in the process of compiling this information. I will write to the Deputy in relation to this survey and the information gathered,...

Written Answers — School Text Books: School Text Books (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: A consultancy report, which was submitted to my Department in 1993, dealt with the factors which contribute to the cost of school text books. The main conclusion of that report was that book rental schemes are the most practical way of limiting the cost of school books to parents. The report, copies of which were sent to all schools, contains a number of useful suggestions, including a Code...

Written Answers — Health Promotion: Health Promotion (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) is a mandatory part of all programmes for primary students, and its implementation is being assisted by a full-time support service. The programme begins in the infant classes and specifically addresses the need for regular exercise, and examines food and nutrition issues and the need for a balanced diet. The objective is that by fifth and sixth...

Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (3 Jul 2008)

Batt O'Keeffe: As part of the Programme for Government, a Developing Areas Unit was set up recently in my Department to focus on the school accommodation needs of rapidly developing areas, including the area to which the Deputy refers. The main emphasis in 2008 is on providing sufficient school places in these developing areas, as well as delivering improvements in the quality of existing primary and...