Results 7,781-7,800 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (26 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Springboard is a specific initiative that strategically targets funding of free part time higher education courses for unemployed people in areas where there are identified labour market skills shortages or employment opportunities. Courses being funded under the second phase of Springboard 2012 were selected by an independent panel with industry and educational expertise, having regard to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 133, to 135, inclusive, together. My Department has sought the assistance of, and is working closely with, the relevant Local Authority in relation to identifying and acquiring a suitable site for the school to which the Deputy has referred. Due to commercial sensitivities attaching to site acquisitions generally, it is not possible to comment further on the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to inform the Deputy that my Department has had no correspondence with Kildare Vocational Education Committee or engagement with the Department of Defence in relation to the school to which he refers. There has been a small decrease in enrolments at this school over the past ten years. However, given that the school is in an area which is proximate to areas of growth such as Naas,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Arrangements are currently being made for the appointment of a teacher to a post in the visiting teacher service in County Kerry to replace a visiting teacher for hearing impairment who recently retired. The teacher appointed to the position will be a fully qualified teacher with appropriate qualifications and experience.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Site Acquisitions (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I can confirm to the Deputy that, further to my earlier reply to him, that the acquisition of a site for a permanent school building for the proposed school referred to by him is currently being progressed by my Department through the Chief State Solicitor's Office in conjunction with the current landowners. When the site has been secured, the building project will be considered for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Breaks Standardisation (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Following extensive discussions, the arrangements for the standardisation of the mid-term, Christmas and Easter breaks for all schools for the school years up to 2013/14 have been agreed with the relevant education partners. The primary aim of the standardisation of these breaks is to bring certainty and clarity to parents, pupils and schools on the arrangements that will apply for the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Training (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I have accepted the recommendations set out in a report commissioned by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) on the structures of initial teacher education. The purpose of the report, which I requested, was to identify new possible structures to improve initial teacher education in Ireland so that it is comparable with the best in the world. The international panel of education experts who...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Vocational Education Committees Amalgamation (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: In June of 2011, I announced that the Government had approved a revised reconfiguration of the Vocational Education Committees system. The Government decision confirmed that the number of VECs would be reduced to 16 but involves different mergers to those announced by the previous Government. In October 2011 the General Scheme of an Education and Training Boards Bill was referred to the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Applications (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The decision on eligibility for new student grant applications from the 2012/13 academic year is a matter for the new centralised grant awarding authority, SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland). The Deputy will appreciate that in the absence of all of the relevant details that would be contained in an individual's application form and supporting documentation, it would not be possible...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Textbooks (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I am very conscious that the cost of textbooks is a considerable burden on families. I have met with members of the Irish Educational Publishers' Association and impressed on them the need to limit the cost of textbooks and to avoid placing schools and families in a position where textbooks are altered unnecessarily. The Association agreed a voluntary Code of Practice among their members,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 147 to 149, inclusive, together. The major building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is at an advanced stage of architectural planning. My Department is actively engaged with the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) in relation to the transfer of ownership of the property referred to by the Deputy. When the transfer of the site is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The school referred to by the Deputy is among eight schools constituting the third bundle of school projects that are earmarked for delivery as part of the Department's overall Schools Public Private Partnership programme of works. Unfortunately, unanticipated difficulties associated with the current fiscal situation have led to delays in achieving financial close. As a consequence, it has...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning. My Department recently authorised the project to proceed to Stage 2(b) which includes planning permission, Fire Cert, Disability Access Cert (DAC) and the preparation of tender documents. To ensure that every child has access to a school place, the delivery of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teacher Recruitment (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Circular 31/2011 details a cascade of measures for recruitment of teachers, prioritising unemployed registered teachers over retired registered teachers and registered teachers over unregistered persons. Each principal must report to his or her board of management on a regular basis on the fact that a list of unemployed registered teachers is being maintained, and the circumstances in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Staff Numbers (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I understand the Deputy has clarified that her question is exclusively in relation to career breaks of one year duration or more. It is open to an official of my Department to submit an application for a career break in order to rear a child, other domestic purposes (eg care of a sick relative), educational courses, travel abroad or to establish their own business in accordance with the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Redundancy Payments (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: P45s are currently being processed for all Special Needs Assistants whose posts ceased on 31st August 2012. The person referred to by the Deputy will receive her P45 this week (i.e. the week commencing Monday 24th September). A redundancy application in respect of the person referred to by the Deputy has been received by my Department and is currently being processed. It is expected that...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The information sought is being compiled and will be forwarded directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Institutes of Technology (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: In the document, Towards a Future Higher Education Landscape, published by the HEA in February last, a clear four stage process and criteria was laid out for institutes of technology who wish to apply for designation as a technological university. Having regard to the process that has been put in place to assess proposals for designation as technological universities I do not propose to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Bullying in Schools (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy may be aware that an Anti-Bullying Forum was held on Thursday 17th May bringing together a range of experts, support groups and representatives of the schools sector including parents and students. I was very pleased to open this important Forum and to provide an opportunity to explore with all the relevant stakeholders how best to tackle bullying in schools and to consider what...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Support Schemes Issues (25 Sep 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The allocation of the Student Assistance Fund to approved third level institutions is made by the Higher Education Authority, generally in two instalments. Allocations are based on a combination of Equal Access data and total full-time enrolments in the previous academic year (rather than inclusively on full-time enrolment data as in previous years). All registered full-time undergraduate...