Results 6,821-6,840 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Delays (22 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: In addition to the maintenance grant support is also available to students under the Student Assistance Fund which assists students in third-level institutions in exceptional financial need. Information on the fund is available through the Access Officer in the third level institution attended. The Access Officers themselves will also continue to provide support and advice to students to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Courses (22 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The National Strategy for Higher Education sets out the basis for the development of the higher education sector over the next two decades which, as part of its report, recognised that much greater diversity of funding and institutional activity is required into the future by the sector. The Higher Education Authority (HEA), at my request, is undertaking a study on the sustainability of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (22 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department provides for a scheme of grants towards the purchase of equipment for the use of students in primary and second level schools who have been diagnosed as having serious physical and/or communicative disabilities which make ordinary communication through speech and/or writing impossible for them. The purpose of the grant-aid is to provide such students with equipment of direct...

Topical Issue Debate: Disability Support Service (21 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I have heard clearly what Deputy Martin Ferris has stated, as I indicated when taking this Topical Issue on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, who is well aware of what is going on in the area and is well attuned to the kinds of issues the Deputy raised. Unfortunately, she cannot be here to respond to him and to take up the points he raised so eloquently....

Topical Issue Debate: Bullying in Schools (21 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I thank the Deputy for the comments he has made on the progress we have initiated. We will not be able to evaluate the quality of the product until we see it in draft form at the end of this month and over Christmas when it will be published. Representatives from the Irish Secondary Schools Students Union were on the working group. We also had interdepartmental representation. The next...

Topical Issue Debate: Disability Support Service (21 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I thank Deputy Ferris for raising this matter and I am pleased to take this opportunity, on behalf of my colleague the Minister for State, Deputy Lynch, who cannot be here this afternoon, to outline the position on the Kerry Parents and Friends Association. I recognise the valuable contribution the Kerry Parents and Friends Association makes to the provision of services to people with...

Topical Issue Debate: Bullying in Schools (21 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. As he will know, I take the issue of bullying and cyberbullying in particular very seriously. Tackling the issue of bullying and bullying in schools is a key commitment in the programme for Government. That is one of the reasons the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald and I convened an Anti-Bullying Forum recently...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Schemes (21 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The joint Government-Industry Action Plan, which I launched in January this year, was developed as a direct response to specific skills shortages in the ICT sector. The Plan outlines a range of short, medium and long term measures to develop a sustainable domestic supply of high quality ICT graduates to support the further expansion and development of ICT sector and support innovation and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Support Schemes (21 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Third Level Access Measure provides support for disadvantaged students through two sub-priorities: the Student Assistance Fund and the Fund for Students with Disabilities. The objective of the Student Assistance Fund, is to assist students, in a sensitive and compassionate manner, who might otherwise, due to their financial circumstances, be unable to continue their third level studies....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (21 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy will be aware the student contribution increased from €2,000 to €2,250 for the current academic year. The contribution is paid by the Exchequer in respect of students who qualify under my Department's student grant scheme. The Government is aware of the financial pressures on families and, conscious of this, tax relief provisions have been put in place which...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (21 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Under my Department's student grant scheme, eligible students may receive funding provided they are attending an approved course at an approved institution as defined in the scheme. If an individual applicant considers that she/he has been unjustly refused a student grant, or that the rate of grant awarded is not the correct one, she/he may appeal, in the first instance, to SUSI. ...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Applications (21 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Officials in my Department have confirmed with Student Universal Ireland (SUSI), the new centralised grant awarding authority, that the student referred to by the Deputy submitted a grant application after the closing date on the 19th September. Upon initial assessment it was determined that form was not completed in full and the student has been advised by letter to re-apply.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Vocational Education Committees (21 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The VEC to which the Deputy refers has confirmed to my Department that the contract with its supplier for heating oil ended on the 30th April 2012. As its schools and centres were closed over the summer months and there was no ordering requirement, and on the basis that a new Public Procurement Framework Agreement for the procurement of Bulk Liquid Fuels would be in place in the Autumn of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Public Sector Staff Redeployment (21 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 76 and 77 together. In total, there is now 96 staff working in Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), 33 of which are permanent and 63 of which are temporary. 20 of the 63 temporary seasonal staff were recruited in the last two months. SUSI is also supported by 79 temporary staff working on document management and helpdesk support in the outsourced...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (21 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Teachers continue to be employed by their Boards of Management while on secondment to work with the Special Education Support Service (SESS). There are eighteen full-time members on the SESS team together with one part-time specialist advisor. Currently, the full-time members on the SESS team are seconded from their primary and post-primary schools. The part-time specialist advisor is on...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (21 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that I welcome the publication of the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) policy advice on the Education of Students with Severe Emotional Disturbance or Behavioural Disorders. The report makes recommendations as to how education can in the future best be provided for such children, while also ensuring minimal disruption for other pupils. My Department...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Qualifications (21 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department does not maintain records of the number of teachers who have obtained the qualifications to which the Deputy refers, nor is there a central record of teachers who have received funding for particular courses. I can however confirm that my Department, through the Special Education Support Service (SESS), has provided funding to two teachers towards the costs involved in studying...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (21 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 (EPSEN) and Disability Acts set out clearly the role and functions of the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and the Health Service Executive (HSE) and their staff in carrying out assessments and with regard to the provision of services for children with special educational needs....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (21 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Arrangements concerning the payment of fees are a matter for the relevant third level institution. Any discretion to be applied, therefore, will be a matter to be determined by the relevant institution on an individual basis.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education, Quality Assurance (21 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy will be aware, FETAC was formally dissolved on 6 November and its functions are now undertaken by the new amalgamated qualifications and quality assurance body, Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI). While the new agency will, over the coming months, establish its own policies and processes for quality assurance, programme validation and awarding, as well as for its other...