Results 7,321-7,340 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: As part of the expansion of the Small Schools Scheme, a grant of €484,000 was sanctioned to enable the management authority of the school in question to extend and modernise their school. The Small Schools Scheme allows Boards of Management to address their accommodation and building priorities with a guaranteed amount of funding and gives Boards of Management control of the building...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: An application for capital funding has been assessed and the long term projected staffing, on which the schools future accommodation needs has been determined and notified to the school authority. In order to determine how best to provide for the schools accommodation needs, it will be necessary to have a technical assessment of the existing buildings carried out. My officials will be in...

Written Answers — Data Protection: Data Protection (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: Education related agencies have been asked to confirm whether any disks, laptops or memory storage devices containing personal information have been lost or stolen. The information will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as it is available.

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The Deputy will be aware of my commitment to ensuring that all children including those with special needs can have access to an education appropriate to their needs preferably in school settings through the primary and post primary school network. This facilitates access to individualised education programmes, fully qualified professional teachers who have received additional training in...

Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: I wish to advise the Deputy that the Department are in on-going contact with the relevant authorities regarding the issue in question.

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: Schedules of overall accommodation for the school to which the Deputy refers have been agreed to cater for a long term projected enrolment of 450 pupils. I have approved the appointment of a conservation architect and the school has been informed of this decision.

Written Answers — School Placement: School Placement (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The compulsory school starting age in a National School is 6 years of age. Enrolment in individual schools is the responsibility of the managerial authority of those schools and my Department does not seek to intervene in decisions made by schools in such matters. My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking places....

Written Answers — School Absenteeism: School Absenteeism (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The Education (Welfare) Act, 2000 established the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) as the single national body with responsibility for school attendance. The Act provides a comprehensive framework promoting regular school attendance and tackling the problems of absenteeism and early school leaving.The general functions of the Board are to ensure that each child attends a recognised...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: My Department does not provide specific grants for mature students who wish to sit the leaving certificate exams. However, my Department funds a number of maintenance grant schemes for third level and PLC students. These are the Higher Education Grants Scheme, the Vocational Education Committees' Scholarship Scheme, the Third Level Maintenance Grants Scheme for Trainees and the Maintenance...

Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: My Department is conscious of the extent of housing developments in the Lucan area 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 demographic trends, my...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: One officer of my Department has been dismissed under the provisions of the Civil Service Regulation (Amendment) Act 2005. It would not be appropriate to specify the grade of the officer concerned, as such information may lead to the identification of the individual.

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The attached tabular statement outlines official travel and subsistence costs for staff of the Department for the years 2002 — 2007. A substantial amount of the travel expenses paid by my Department relate to the work of the Schools Inspectorate. Travel and Subsistance Total amounts for Civil Servants employed by the Department of Education and Science from 2002-2007 Home Travel...

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: In the event that I use up all the time, the Minister of State, Deputy Devins, will contribute tomorrow night. I would like to turn now to the issue of the use of the applied behavioural analysis intervention in the education of children with autism. As Deputies will be aware, autism is a spectrum disorder and children with autism can have widely varying needs and abilities. The Government...

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: Teachers in special classes, who are familiar with a range of approaches, can tailor these to the needs of the individual child. Where a child has been diagnosed as needing ABA we have brought in consultants from Norway and the US, and as Deputies will see, we also have staff in our Department because we support the use of ABA and training is provided for teachers in its use. My Department...

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The task force also stated that there is "no definitive evidence that supported one approach as being better than others for all children with ASDs, or supports a single approach for all aspects of development; nor is there any evidence by which children could be matched to particular approaches". It recommended that a range of approaches be made available to meet the unique needs of each...

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: The House will appreciate that if the task force found no definitive evidence to support one intervention over the others——

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: ——it is difficult to ascribe any credibility to recent comments that listed ABA as the first and most effective educational approach.

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: It is not. Deputies should also remember that there were 13 members of the task force on autism. No one person can claim to speak on behalf of the group as a whole.

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: Deputies may have heard the interesting and informative debate on the "News at One" today between two members of the task force who have very different views on the role of ABA in the education of children with autism. The report of the task force on autism is just one of many reports and pieces of research that has informed my Department's policy on the appropriate educational provision for...

Special Educational Needs: Motion (12 Feb 2008)

Mary Hanafin: There is much research and a lot is going on around the world on autism. Members might be interested to know that the task force on autism in Northern Ireland in 2001 also consulted widely with professionals, reviewed a wide range of literature on autism and invited experts on autism to address the group. It found "preference for no single approach but concludes that single methods by...