Results 7,721-7,740 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Bodies (4 Nov 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: For the Deputy's information, following the enactment of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012, the Education Finance Board was dissolved in March 2013 and the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board (Cara Nua) was established. The body is funded from the contributions of the religious congregations offered in response to the request for additional contributions,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (23 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Allowances are paid to participants on some ETB programmes, including training programmes, programmes under the Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS) and Youthreach. In general, the amount paid is aligned to the person's Social Welfare entitlement and this amount is paid for the duration of the course. In addition, a weekly travel allowance based on distance travelled to the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (23 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I can confirm to the Deputy that the school to which he refers has recently submitted an application for additional classroom accommodation. The application concerned is currently being assessed and a decision will be conveyed to the school authorities when this process has been finalised.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (23 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning - Stage 2b - Detailed Design. All statutory approvals have been obtained and the Stage 2b submission was recently approved by my Department. The Design Team are required to carry out a final review of all tender documentation and to submit final confirmations that...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: University Libraries (23 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The University of Limerick concluded an agreement with the EIB in December 2013 regarding the EIB's financial support for a €224m infrastructural investment plan at the University. The extension to the University Library forms part of the overall plan which requires funding from a number of different sources. Preliminary site enabling works have already been completed. We...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (23 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department is currently considering potential revisions to the system of allocating Resource Teaching and Learning Support to schools. This is on foot of recommendations set out in the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) Policy Advice on "Supporting Students with Special Educational Needs in Schools (May 2013) and the recommendations of the NCSE Working Group Report "A Proposed...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Qualifications (23 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department's position is that only qualified and registered teachers should be employed by schools. This is set out most recently to schools in Circular Letter 31/2011. Current recruitment procedures direct schools to ensure that teachers proposed for appointment to publicly paid posts must be registered with the Teaching Council and have qualifications appropriate to the sector and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (23 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The major building project referred to by the Deputy is currently at Stage 2A of Architectural Planning. The Patron Body and their Design Team are finalising the Stage 2A report for presentation to my Department. Upon completion of this presentation and submission of the report, subject to no issues arising, this project will be authorised to proceed to Stage 2B - Detailed Design Stage...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (23 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department provides for a continuum of special educational provision to be made available for children with special educational needs, so that regardless of the level of need of the child, educational provision can be made for them. The extent of supports required for any child in a particular class setting or school will depend on their disability categorisation and the extent of care...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Universal Support Ireland Administration (23 Oct 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: Schools Health and Safety (23 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Under the provisions of the Education Act 1998, the board of management is the body charged with the direct governance of a school. Schools are required to take all reasonable precautions to ensure the safety and welfare of their pupils. It is important that the school management authority requests parents to ensure that the school is made aware of any medical condition suffered by any...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (22 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I have already stated publicly that because of increasing demographics my Department requires additional resources to simply maintain existing levels of service. In my pre-budget discussions with the education partners I expressed the hope that continued improvement in the economy over a sustained period will take us to a position where we can make improvements in some areas. The Government's...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (22 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I can confirm to the Deputy that the school to which he refers has recently submitted an application for additional classroom accommodation. The application concerned is currently being assessed and a decision will be conveyed to the school authorities when this process has been finalised.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (22 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: As the Deputy will be aware, Department officials are currently working closely with South Dublin County Council in relation to securing a site for the provision of permanent school accommodation for the school to which he refers. Due to commercial sensitivities attaching to site acquisitions generally, I am not in a position to provide further details at this time. Once the site has been...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Correspondence (22 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I can confirm that a reply has issued to the correspondence referred to by the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (22 Oct 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.My main priority for any additional resources for the foreseeable future will be to cater for the continuing increase in demographics at all levels in the education system. We have a growing population of young people in this country and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Local Authority Leases (22 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: As the Deputy will be aware, my Department understands that there is a lease between the organisation, referred to by the Deputy, and Cork City Council. Leasing arrangements between Cork City Council and the organisation, in question, are not a matter for my Department and I am therefore not in a position to comment on those arrangements.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Designation (22 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The key priority of my Department at present is to continue to prioritise and target resources at schools with the most concentrated levels of disadvantage. In the current economic climate this means that there is no scope for any additionality to the DEIS programme. As the Deputy may be aware, DEIS is the subject of ongoing evaluation by both the Educational Research Centre (ERC) and my...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (22 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Teacher allocations are approved annually in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment. The staffing arrangements for the current school year are set out in Circular 0007/2014 which is available on the Department website. The school referred to by the Deputy has a staffing of Principal and 15 classroom teachers in the current school year based on an enrolment of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (22 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Work and diary commitments would not facilitate a visit to Co. Kerry such as outlined by the Deputy.The criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts for the 2014/2015 school year is set out in the Staffing Schedule (Circular 0007/2014) which is available on the Department website. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the...