Results 6,901-6,920 of 8,873 for speaker:Batt O'Keeffe
- Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 306 and 307 together. 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...
- Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: As the Deputy will be aware, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating resource teachers and special needs assistants to schools to support children with special needs. The SENOs also establish special classes where a need has been determined. The NCSE operates within my...
- Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: The number of primary school pupils enrolled in the three primary schools in Youghal for the current academic year is 796. The Forward Planning Section of my Department is in the process of identifying the areas where significant additional accommodation will be required at primary and post-primary level for 2009 and onwards. Factors under consideration include population growth,...
- Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: Section 3(10) of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 will, when commenced, entitle parents to be provided with a copy of an individual education plan (IEP) prepared under the Act. This section has not yet been commenced. The preparation of IEPs represents good practice. The Deputy may wish to note that in preparation for the statutory introduction of the IEP...
- Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: The school to which the Deputy refers has applied to my Department for capital funding for an extension project. The architectural planning of the project is at an early stage. The progression of all large scale building projects, including this project, from initial design stage through to construction phase will be considered on an on-going basis in the context of my Department's...
- Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: The acquisition of the site for the school in question will be considered in the context of the capital budget available to my Department for school buildings generally. I am not in a position to say at this stage when the acquisition will be concluded.
- Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: My Department is conscious of the extent of housing developments in the area referred to by the Deputy and the consequences which this has for school provision. Because of this, substantial additional accommodation has been provided in the area by my Department at both primary and post-primary level in recent years and this is set to continue for the foreseeable future. Based on current...
- Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: The school to which the Deputy refers is at an advanced stage of architectural planning. Tenders have been invited and returned and the project is now awaiting approval to proceed to construction. The commencement and progression of all large scale building projects from initial design stage through to construction phase, including this project, will be considered on an on-going basis in the...
- Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: All applications for capital funding are prioritised and advanced incrementally by my Department. The priority attaching to individual projects is determined by published prioritisation criteria, which were formulated following consultation with the Education Partners. There are four band ratings under these criteria, each of which describes the extent of accommodation required and the...
- Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: As the Deputy is aware, all applications for large scale capital funding are assessed against published prioritisation criteria which were formulated following consultation with the Education Partners. Under the criteria, each project is assigned a band rating which reflects the type of works required and the urgency attaching to them. There are four band ratings in all with Band 1 being...
- Written Answers — School Services Staff: School Services Staff (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: In general the arrangements for supporting secretarial and caretaking services in schools mirror those for providing support funding to schools. Primary and secondary schools are funded through capitation grants and likewise secretarial and caretaking services are funded by grants that are related to the number of pupils in the school. It is the case that a small number of primary and...
- Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: Expenditure incurred on the purchase of temporary primary school accommodation since 1998 is detailed in the following table. Expenditure incurred on maintenance or upkeep of accommodation â temporary or permanent â is a recurrent cost as distinct from a capital cost. Such expenditure falls to be funded from schools' recurrent sources of funding which are financed from capitation...
- Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 319 and 321 together. The information on expenditure on the rental of temporary accommodation is provided in the following table. The Deputy will be aware that demand for additional accommodation in schools has risen significantly over the last number of years, with the appointment of 6,000 extra teachers in the primary sector alone since 2002. In considering...
- Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: Expenditure incurred on the maintenance or upkeep of accommodation â temporary or permanent â is a recurrent cost as distinct from a capital cost. Such expenditure falls to be funded from schools' recurrent sources of funding which are financed from capitation grants. Detailed breakdown of such expenditure is not available within my Department. Please see the following table, outlining...
- Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: My Department does not provide capital funding to rent buildings or rooms for the purpose of third level education. Capital funding is used for the purchase of buildings, for new builds or refurbishment. Universities and Institutes of Technology, which are autonomous institutions, receive recurrent funding in the form of a block grant from the Higher Education Authority (HEA). The...
- Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 323 to 347, inclusive, together. The information sought by the Deputy is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.
- Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: A payment in regard to additional works sanctioned for this project was made to the school in question in March 2008. Arrangements to pay a further amount due have been made following receipt of responses to some outstanding queries on these payments. In line with the letter of approval issued to the school, outlining the terms and conditions under which grant aid would be paid, any...
- Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: The concepts of 'Balanced Eating' and 'Healthy Exercise' underlie the Junior Cycle and Senior Cycle syllabi in the Home Economics curriculum at post-primary level. One of the five areas of study in the Home Economics Syllabus at Junior Certificate level is Food Studies and Culinary Skills. The purpose of the Culinary Skills component is to ensure that each student is capable of completing a...
- Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: As part of the expansion of the Small Schools Scheme 2007, a grant of â¬484,000 was sanctioned for the school in question to enable the Board of Management to extend and refurbish their school. The scheme is not intended to leave schools with significant fund-raising needs. Rather the terms of the Scheme require the schools to tailor the scope of capital works commissioned to the available...
- Written Answers — School Enrolments: School Enrolments (24 Jun 2008)
Batt O'Keeffe: The information requested by the Deputy is not readily available and would take an inordinate amount of administrative time to compile.