Results 7,841-7,860 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (15 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The policy of my Department is to ensure, as far as possible, that the Managerial Authorities of schools give priority to unemployed registered teachers who are fully qualified when filling vacant teaching posts. It is schools that employ teachers and not my Department. However my Department has issued a number of Circulars addressing this issue in recent years. Under these Circulars...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (15 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Retired teachers are employed in a substitute capacity for casual / non casual absences in primary and post primary schools. Because of the casual nature of the employment figures are compiled for specific periods. In December 2012 there were 174 primary and 91 post primary retired teachers who had worked for some period of time in the 2012/13 school year and in December 2013, 113 primary and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (15 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The staffing and redeployment arrangements for the current school year are set out in Circular 0007/2014 which is available on the Department website.The core function of the redeployment arrangements is to facilitate the redeployment of all surplus permanent teachers to other schools that have vacancies. The redeployment of all surplus permanent teachers is key to the Department's ability to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Summer Works Scheme Applications (15 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Deputy will be aware that details of the schools approved funding under the 2014 Summer Works Scheme in respect of applications submitted for Categories 1 to 6 i.e. Gas, Electrical, Mechanical, Toilet Facilities and Roof Works projects were announced earlier this year. Schools in Dublin 3, 5, 13 and 17, that have received capital funding from my Department may be viewed on my Department...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (15 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: As the Deputy is aware, my Department's over-riding objective is to ensure that every child has access to a physical school place and that our school system is in a position to cope with increasing pupil numbers. This can sometimes necessitate the use of temporary accommodation, as in the case of this school, until my Department is in a position to provide a permanent building. My Department...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education Policy (15 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department uses a Geographical Information System to analyse demographic data on a nationwide basis to determine the areas where additional primary and post-primary educational infrastructure may be required. A variety of data sources are used in this analysis, including census data, school enrolment data, and child benefit data obtained from the Department of Social Protection. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (15 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department has produced a suite of technical guidance documents, which are available on my Department's website, to assist design teams in best practice in the design and development of schools in green field site situations. These documents cover all aspects of the development of a building project for both internal and external works. The current practice is to use a guideline of 80 sq....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teaching Council of Ireland (15 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Under the Teaching Council Act, 2001, the Teaching Council is the body with statutory regulatory authority to review and accredit initial teacher education programmes. As such it is the Council, not the Minister, that sets out the programme criteria. Changes to the structure and content of the Gaeltacht Placement arose from the Teaching Council's new accreditation criteria, published in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Gaelscoileanna Issues (15 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 123 and 124 together. The Department's capital budget is focused on meeting demographic demands to ensure that every child will have access to a physical school place. The establishment of any new school is, therefore, considered in the context of the overall need for additional school places to meet future demographic demands. Where new schools are...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Gaelscoileanna Issues (15 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: A new post-primary school opened this September in north east Kildare. This school includes an Aonad to add to all-Irish post-primary provision in the area. My Department has confirmed, that if sufficient demand for education through the medium of Irish in the Aonad is demonstrated over a four-year cycle, consideration will be given to the establishment of an independent...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (15 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30th September. At primary level the staffing schedule operates in a clear and transparent manner and treats all similar types of schools equally irrespective of location. The configuration of classes...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Examinations (15 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: In the 2014 Leaving Certificate, 27.3% of Mathematics candidates opted to sit for the Higher Level Mathematics Paper. This figure is up from 15.8% in 2011. This significant increase is attributed to the introduction of new Leaving Certificate Mathematics specification, combined with the availability of 25 bonus points now on offer for candidates who achieve a Grade D or higher. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments Data (15 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The information that the deputy seeks is not available. I attach a spreadsheet which shows the number of 16 and 17 year olds in full time education. I also include a link to a Department of Education and Skills Report on Early Leavers from Post-Primary schools –pupils enrolled in 2009/2010 and not in 2010/2011. TABLE 1.2 - NUMBER OF PERSONS RECEIVING FULL-TIME EDUCATION BY AGE AND...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards Funding (15 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Section 49 of the Education and Training Boards Act, 2013, confers a power of borrowing on an Education and Training Board (ETB), subject to the submission of a proposal to the Board, and if approved in principle by the Board, to the Minister for Education and Skills for approval. My Department has issued Circular 0066/2014 to ETB, concerning the procedures to be followed where an ETB...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Support Schemes (14 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 233 and 281 together. The decision to abolish the Gaeltacht Placement grants, from September 2012, has to be viewed in the context of the prevailing requirement to reduce costs and achieve efficiencies where possible. Priority was given to protecting resources for front line education services as far as possible in the coming years, which is especially...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Minor Works Scheme Expenditure (14 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Circular Letter 0062/2013 which was published as the Minor Works Grant for the school year 2013/2014 issued last November states "the grant will only be paid in future years as funding permits". The focus under the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme 2012-2016 is on meeting the demand for additional school places. Consequently, there is no funding provided at this time in the 2014...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Childhood Obesity (14 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The policy statement by the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland contains a number of recommendations relevant to the education sector. I welcome the fact that a number of these recommendations relate to initiatives that are already being supported by my Department. These include the continued support for the expansion of the Active Schools Flag initiative, which is funded by my...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Assistance Fund (14 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Student Assistance Fund is allocated annually to the universities, the institutes of technology, the colleges of education and a number of other recurrently-funded higher education institutions. The objective of the Fund is to provide financial assistance to full-time undergraduate or postgraduate students in need of such support. The Fund is intended to support students whose...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Funding (14 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I am aware of the difficult situation in which the centre in question finds itself in which arises from the decision of its main funder to withdrawal financial support. In 2014 my Department will provide 968 teacher co-operation hours, under the Co-operation Hours Scheme operated by the local Education and Training Board (ETB), and non-pay funding of €47,500, to the centre. This...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Work Placement Programmes (14 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: Information in regard to WPP numbers was received from the Department of Social Protection and forwarded to the Deputy on 24 June 2014. I have asked my Department to forward a copy of the letter to the Deputy.