Results 7,101-7,120 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin
- Schools Building Projects. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The situation is exactly as I have outlined to the Deputy. All the information is held on individual files in the Department and there are approximately 3,200 files on primary schools so I cannot give him a ready answer. I have given him the amount of money spent, which is only 5% of the overall budget. We are undertaking a review within the Department, as part of which we are examining...
- Schools Building Projects. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I assure the Deputy that as soon as the information is available, I will be happy to give it to him. We do not have a central knowledge of it because individual schools which have individual boards of management are responsible for acquiring the buildings. They seek permission from the Department, get three tenders, have to take the cheapest tender and then put up the building. In some...
- Schools Building Projects. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I am giving the Deputy the factual situation.
- Schools Building Projects. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I can only repeat that a centralised inventory is being developed. The information is being gleaned from the 3,200 files. There is a significant number of building projects this year. We are spending â¬600 millionââ
- Schools Building Projects. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: It is important that our building unit prioritise the work it must do. If the Deputy wants to ask another question, I will be happy to give it to him as soon as the information is available.
- Adult Education. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The Government has prioritised a major expansion of opportunities in adult and further education. Between 2002 and 2007, expenditure on these areas increased by over 50%, from â¬256 million to â¬392 million. This increased investment helped to improve opportunities by expanding the number of places on further education courses from 44,000 in 2002 to 49,000 in 2007. These include more than...
- Adult Education. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I refer to the three points raised. The budget for adult education is â¬392 million, which is a highly significant amount and is targeted at a number of different areas because a flexible approach must be adopted to reach that particular cohort of people. The programme for Government has set out that it must be flexible to cover all the areas I have mentioned. The Youthreach places will be...
- Adult Education. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: However, this is a commitment under Towards 2016 and this is 2008. It will reach out to a particular market. The Deputy's third point pertained to workplace literacy. As he noted, this is an extremely important area. Because it is based in the workplace, it is being dealt with under the auspices of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and â¬3 million has been allocated for...
- Adult Education. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: In respect of the back to education initiative, between last year and this year, an additional 1,500 people are benefitting from it. Consequently, I do not believe the Deputy is correct to state it is obviously too restrictive. It is a highly valuable source of support for many people. As for child care, the adult education child care service is available to those who participate in the...
- School Funding. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The issue of tax exemptions is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Finance. However, I understand that those primary and post-primary schools that have been granted charitable tax exemption by the Revenue Commissioners under section 207 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 were granted the exemption on the basis of their charitable objects and purpose. The matter of whether they are...
- School Funding. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The original definition of "charitable purposes" dates from 1601 and 1634. It was established in law as long ago as 1891 that giving money for the advancement of education is a legitimate pursuit. Schools use the provision for a wide variety of reasons. For example, Sion Hill school in Blackrock had a magnificent 100-year old concert hall in need of refurbishment. It was not funded by the...
- School Funding. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I referred to primary and post-primary schools.
- School Funding. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I understand only 32 of the schools are fee-charging. I do not have the breakdown between primary and post-primary schools but the phenomenon is evident right across the sector.
- School Funding. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: No. Seven hundred second level schools are non-fee paying. They are included in the figures.
- School Funding. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I do not have the breakdown between primary and post-primary schools but there are 420 primary and post-primary schools in total. I have just given a very practical example of how a non-fee-paying school was able to carry out valuable work by using a relief available to all. Obtaining the relief does not interfere in any way with the running of the schools. Since the relief is available to...
- School Funding. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The quality of education in fee-paying and non-fee paying schools is identical, regardless of their location, and this has been borne out by international studies. I have no intention of breaking a 40-year old tradition of recognising the fee-paying schools but I have said that while I continue to provide reasonable support for existing fee-paying schools, there should not be any further...
- School Bags. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: The report of a working group to examine potential problems caused by the weight of school bags, which was presented in July 1998, acknowledged that many of the solutions belong at local school level. One of the main recommendations of the report related to the need to heighten awareness of the potential health hazards posed by excessively heavy school bags and, in this regard, my Department...
- School Bags. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: It is not feasible to legislate on the weight of school bags but I appreciate what the Deputy is saying. The problem is even greater for first year students because, at 13 years of age, they decide to carry to school all the books for all their new subjects. Some of the problems that have arisen, which must be weighed against each other, concern the fact that certain junior certificate...
- School Bags. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: It comes down to the balancing act I spoke about. It is an issue of cost versus weight.
- School Bags. (20 Feb 2008)
Mary Hanafin: I am not a doctor. I cannot vouch for whatever damage might be done, but I appreciate that schoolbags are very heavy. Parents could not be reasonably expected to buy two sets of books for their children to have one set at school and one at home. Deputy Stanton asked about requesting publishers to publish lighter-weight books. The demand for high quality books is such that all the textbooks...