Results 7,281-7,300 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Applications (2 Dec 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: As part of a comprehensive customer service and communications strategy provided by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), to ensure that all necessary avenues are open to applicants to receive the information they need, a dedicated email and phone line service is provided by SUSI for Oireachtas members. This was established to meet an identified need for applicants who choose to engage...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Applications (2 Dec 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: As part of a comprehensive customer service and communications strategy provided by Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI), to ensure that all necessary avenues are open to applicants to receive the information they need, a dedicated email and phone line service is provided by SUSI for Oireachtas members. This was established to meet an identified need for applicants who choose to engage...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Child Abuse (2 Dec 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department is finalising its consideration of the review of day school abuse cases undertaken by the State Claims Agency, in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General and the State Claims Agency.I expect that following the Government's consideration of the matter, its response will be announced before Christmas.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Broadband Service Provision (2 Dec 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: There are only 7 post primary schools not yet connected to the High Speed 100Mbit/s Network. I have listed these schools and the reason they are not yet connected. Roll number School Name County Latest Update 65241N St Josephs College Tipperary Supplier delays. Install to be scheduled with school when supplier work has completed. 70800E St Kevin's Community College Wicklow Supplier...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Broadband Service Provision (2 Dec 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I appreciate that quality internet connectivity is essential for good teaching and learning using ICT. While great progress has been made at post primary where every school will shortly have a high speed connection, I am aware that improvement at primary is slower and is dependent upon market and technological developments. Under the Schools Broadband Access Programme, my Department provides...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Appointments to State Boards (2 Dec 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: For the Deputy's information, 25 State board appointments have been made to bodies under the aegis of my Department in 2014. 10 of those appointments were reappointments to the Residential Institutions Redress Board (RIRB) and 6 were reappointments to the Residential Institutions Review Committee (RIRC). Existing members of the RIRB and the RIRC who have held office from at least 2008 were...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Expenditure supporting pupils with Special Educational Needs in 2015 will amount to over €1.3 billion, which is equivalent to approximately 17% of the overall allocation for education and training. These resources have been protected, or in some areas increased, despite requirements to make expenditure savings in other areas. As part of budget 2015, I recently announced that an...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: There are 130 new special classes coming on stream and the extra SNAs and resource teachers as I have indicated. The NCSE is consulting on a new model of allocation to ensure that the resources are in the school when the child arrives rather than the parents having to in some cases pay for a diagnosis and wait for the supports to be put in place. We want to ensure that the child is at the...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I do not have figures on the demographics but I can get them for the Deputy if they are available. One area the NCSE is looking to address is to get a sense of the kind of need in a particular area so that schools will be given the resources in accordance with that. It is looking for background data, for example, from the Health Service Executive, HSE, early childhood services where there...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: All special schools receive enhanced pupil teacher ratios ranging from 6:1, to 12:1, depending on the disability categorisation of pupils attending. These enhanced ratios are provided because pupils attending special schools have very significant special educational needs. Special schools also receive very high levels of special educational needs assistant staffing support. It is not...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Parents would be advised to engage with the school in that situation. I presume they have done so. I need to be careful about commenting on a particular case when I do not know its circumstances. In the first instance, the parents would be advised to engage with the school principal and board of management. Under section 21 of the Education (Welfare) Act 2000 the school is required to...

Other Questions: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: We would not like to see expulsion happening easily. That is why there is advice, support and interventions available. I do not know the circumstances of the individual case but if the Deputy wants to engage specifically on that case, we may be able to offer specific advice. As Minister, I cannot comment on it here.

Other Questions: Broadband Service Provision (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I wish to advise Deputy Charlie McConalogue that I will meet the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Alex White, in the next week or two to engage on these issues. Approximately 3.5% of primary schools are still on connections of less than 2 MB, of which approximately half are awaiting the installation of improved services of 8 MB or higher. The other half are...

Other Questions: School Absenteeism (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I am happy to have my Department facilitate any request from the Department of Social Protection for data sharing to ensure the effective delivery of public services in a manner which is fully compliant with the requirements of the Data Protection Acts. Earlier this year, my officials met with the Department of Social Protection to explore how data on enrolments could be used for...

Other Questions: School Absenteeism (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Our officials will meet with those of the Department of Social Protection in the near future. Educational Welfare Services, which was formerly known as NEWB, is the statutory body for school attendance and is under the remit of Tusla, which is in turn a body within the remit of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. We are talking therefore about three Departments and perhaps need to...

Other Questions: School Absenteeism (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Educational welfare officers do a very good job to identify these situations and deal with them. Obviously, we have seen court cases and so on. I take the Deputy's point that we must ensure the best possible co-ordination among the three Departments and I undertake to ensure that the necessary discussions are instigated.

Other Questions: School Curriculum (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: On Deputy McGrath's point, my meetings with the Irish Primary Principals' Network, IPPN, and the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, NAPD, have underlined the stressful jobs that principals face. We have worked hard on the recovery of the economy and I hope there will be an education dividend. I will fight strongly for extra resources in the education sector. On...

Other Questions: School Funding (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Deputy McGrath is very lucky this morning.

Other Questions: School Funding (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Government's focus in recent years has been on operating a budgetary programme that is designed to return the Government finances to a sustainable basis. I appreciate that the measures taken impacted on schools, including the reduction in capitation, and are not sustainable in the longer term. I regard capitation funding as one of the priority areas to be considered for improved funding...

Other Questions: School Funding (27 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: On educational disadvantage, we are reviewing the DEIS programme as it has existed for some years. DEIS has done great work but it is time for it to be examined to ensure every element has positive results. Some schools did not qualify for DEIS, particularly schools that did not exist when it was initiated, so the area must be addressed. When I was in Deputy McGrath's position as an...