Results 7,641-7,660 of 7,789 for speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice

Topical Issue Debate: Maternity Services (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I sympathise with all of the families who have suffered in this. I reiterate Deputy Naughten's comments that Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe is a good hospital. Let expectant parents not be afraid. However, we need a proper and transparent investigation which is not biased in any way and the end game of which is not to try to close the hospital. We have seen enough of this through the...

Topical Issue Debate: Maternity Services (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Everything will be done to resolve this and an independent inquiry will take place, but the one thing the people, particularly those in Ballinasloe and its surrounding area, need to hear the Minister state is the hospital will continue to deliver babies. A sad reality in Ireland in recent years, before the Minister took over, was that when a hospital cried for help because of staff shortages...

Other Questions: Student Grant Scheme Administration (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I am not talking specifically about teachers but about all the people working who may have large mortgages. These include young families who find the going tough as a result of the various cuts down through the years. It is a sad day if those going out to work every day are now being put in circumstances in which they cannot afford to send their youngsters to college. I have seen this...

Other Questions: Student Grant Scheme Administration (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 122. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the threshold relating to the third level grants scheme will be raised to accommodate the children of working persons, including teachers, who can no longer afford to pay for third level education due to the imposition of pension levies and the universal social charge; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3338/15]

Other Questions: Student Grant Scheme Administration (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: The purpose of this question is to ask whether the threshold for the third level grants scheme will be raised to accommodate the children of working people in middle Ireland who can no longer afford to pay third level fees as a result of the imposition of pension levies, the universal social charge, etc. Statistics I received in the past week indicate that 8% of people who work in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: My first day in the House was budget day and I saw a beautiful document about the extra teachers to be employed around the country. The previous Minister increased the pupil-teacher ratio and some schools have lost teachers. To clarify the situation, is the Minister saying the teachers who were lost as a result of the increase in the pupil-teacher ratio will not be replaced? Are these...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 117. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the pupil teacher ratio in two, three and four-teacher schools will be reduced prior to the commencement of the new school year in September; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3487/15]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I ask the Minister for Education and Skills about the pupil-teacher ratio, especially in schools with two, three and four teachers. The numbers in three-teacher schools has increased over recent years from 48 to 56. Is there a plan in the next school year to change it?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Schools Building Projects Expenditure (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: This is unacceptable. Thankfully, we are supposed to have turned the corner. The most important issue for any country is to start with the basics - namely, with education. We are all aware of the cuts that affected all schools throughout the country during the recession. We must get our priorities right and decide where are we going. Schools, especially the smaller ones, throughout the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Schools Building Projects Expenditure (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I understand that more children are starting in school and that there is more pressure on schools. We welcome the announcements regarding schools that are being built. That is not a problem. I have looked around the country, and there is a certain degree of waste here and there in all Departments. We put prefabs in place when we should have looked at the bigger picture. I urge the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Schools Building Projects Expenditure (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 115. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she has negotiated a summer works grant scheme for which schools may apply; the size of the budget available for the scheme; when applications will be accepted; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3486/15]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Schools Building Projects Expenditure (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Has the Minister negotiated a summer works grant scheme for which schools may apply? What is the size of the budget available? When will applications be accepted?

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Properties (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 131. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if adequate funding will be provided to maximise the potential of the apprenticeship training centre in Mount Lucas, County Westmeath; the rent that is being paid to Bord na Móna for the property; the duration of the lease; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3341/15]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Capitation Grants (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 136. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will restore the capitation grant for primary schools to its previous level to help the survival of these schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3342/15]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 139. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her views on having transition year used for a series of pre/mini apprenticeship courses allowing students to better explore their prospective further education choices before embarking on the course proper, thereby reducing the drop out rate and expenditure on uncompleted courses; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3339/15]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 147. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when building works on schools (details supplied) in counties Leitrim and Roscommon will commence; when both new schools are scheduled for completion; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3340/15]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Haddington Road Agreement Implementation (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 304. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 187 of 14 January 2015, the reasons specific to her Department the workforce de-layering has not yet been achieved within her Department, as it has in the Health Service Executive in line with section 3.11, workforce restructuring, of the Haddington Road agreement and section 4.2.1 - iii, develop options...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Investigations (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 374. To ask the Minister for Health his views on a file (details supplied) sent to him in June 2014 regarding the death of a person in Castlebar hospital on 15 February 2013; if he will refer this matter to the Health Information and Quality Authority and apologise to the person's family for the substandard care the person received between his admission on 7 February 2013 and his death in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 429. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will permit students to go directly into apprenticeships after their junior cycle exams where such students, though gifted in certain fields may be uninterested in pursuing further academic studies at that point; if she will leave open the option of their returning to sit the leaving certificate should they later change their minds; and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Industrial Disputes (27 Jan 2015)

Michael Fitzmaurice: 430. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the actions being taken to resolve the junior cycle dispute with teachers; if a resolution is imminent; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3381/15]