Results 6,981-7,000 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: While one cannot be definitive about this, all the evidence we have to date suggests that most of the Irish students who go abroad to study do so in courses that require high levels of points here in Ireland, and which they were unable to get into in the first instance. They include medicine and related medical courses such as physiotherapy, either in England, Scotland or Wales, and in some...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I have not finished.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Can Senator Power remind me of her question on professional qualifications? According to my note, it was on whether we were concentrating on any particular ones.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: From an Irish point of view, we have no particular national areas that we want to protect or are concerned about. Our commitment is to facilitate the implementation of a European Union decision which has got to this point and which has to be taken over the line - in other words, to get the European Parliament and European Council to agree. However, there is no Irish perspective of areas...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: To the best of my knowledge, none of those problems has been brought to our attention. As part of our EU Presidency, we will be talking to the various professional institutes here to ascertain if they have particular concerns in that area. I will deal quickly with one or two other issues that were raised. I have no proposals for smoke-free campuses.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: No. I have enough to do at the moment, to be honest.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Deputy Harris raised two questions about teacher education and learning from other people's experience with SNAs. Following recommendations from an international review group, called Initial Teacher Education, we have decided to implement a recommendation on the rationalisation of teacher education provision. That is on top of a decision made on implementing the literacy and numeracy...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Because we are in the programme with the International Monetary Fund and the European institutions, we are a programme country and therefore there were no specific recommendations in relation to us. We are being taken out and treated separately until we regain full sovereignty.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Every intervention is an attempt to reverse outcomes and to try to steer the market in a particular way. They do not always work to the full extent to which they were designed and on entering such a programme, some participants find it really were not for them. The Senator, as a professional educationalist, will be aware of such matters with regard to people starting a course and then...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: It is out of €7 billion. I will get the full figures for the Senator. As I do not have the full figures to hand here, I will write to the Senator with the full details.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: To be honest, were I to give the Senator indicative figures at this point, I would be misleading her. The matter is in flux and we simply do not know. While this is what the Commission seeks, it does not mean the total amount will be increased and nor does it mean that the massive percentage increase that the Commission is seeking under this particular subhead will be increased.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Senator Power raised a question about the Erasmus programme. In general, I would love to see increased participation in the programme and it is one issue I personally want to try to raise in the forthcoming year. As the Senator is aware from her own previous experience, the original intention was to improve mobility of students within the European space and in so doing, to enhance a sense...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I will try to answer all the questions. If I miss any, I ask to be reminded of them. With regard to Deputy McConalogue’s opening question on funding for Erasmus for All, the money is due to double in real terms over seven years. In the past seven years, there have been approximately 18,000 Irish students participating in the programme abroad. However, this is only half the number...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I am reading from the presentation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: If it is of such interest I will circulate a copy of the presentation later.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Commission will support European co-operation on literacy issues by developing a European network of organisations working in this field. It will also ensure that its initiatives in ICT and education will facilitate the identification, analysis and sharing of good practices with regard to literacy. The third item of business at the forthcoming Council meeting on 26 November is the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Forthcoming Education, Youth and Culture Council: Discussion with Minister for Education and Skills (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Members of the committee will have been circulated with an information note prepared by the Department on the agenda for the next education Council on 26 November. This is the only council meeting being held under Cypriot Presidency. The next education Council meeting after this one will on 15 February and it will be the first of two to be held during Ireland''s Presidency in the first half...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Delays (14 Nov 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Higher Education Authority (HEA) on foot of a request from my Department, has written to all higher education institutions requesting them to show flexibility and consideration, as most have done in the past, to students who may be awaiting a decision on their grant application and/or payment of grants. The HEA has requested institutions to consider not withdrawing facilities such as...