Results 7,901-7,920 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Staffing (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 180 to 182, inclusive, together. Teacher allocations to all schools are approved annually by my Department in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment. The staffing schedule at primary level operates on the basis of 1 classroom teacher for an average of every 28 pupils. More favourable ratios operate in DEIS schools. Each one...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Charges (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The position is that the student contribution is payable by students who qualify under my Department's Free Fees Schemes. The Exchequer meets the cost of tuition fees, through my Department's free fees schemes, in respect of eligible full-time undergraduate students. It is estimated that some 129,200 students qualified for free fees in the 2013/14 academic year at a cost of some...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Expenditure (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: In order to carry out the exercise requested by the Deputy, related to the expected cost of reducing the qualifying distance for the non-adjacent rate of grant from 45km to 25km, we would need to know how many students would come within the ranges put forward by the Deputy. The Deputy will appreciate that this information is not readily available to the Department. As the Deputy will be...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Assistance Fund (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Student Assistance Fund is a component of the Third Level Access Measure which is managed on behalf of my Department by the Higher Education Authority and comprises two sub-priorities: the Student Assistance Fund and the Fund for Students with Disabilities. The management of the Third Level Access Measure Fund rests with the Higher Education Authority and the allocation of funding for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I will continue to work with stakeholders to explore ways to increase the availability of student accommodation. Some third-level institutions provide a range of on-campus and off-campus accommodation, and all colleges have an obligation to work with students' unions and other groups, to provide incoming students with details on accommodation options, and to promote the value and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The decision on eligibility for new student grant applications for the 2014/15 academic year is a matter for the centralised grant awarding authority, SUSI (Student Universal Support Ireland). Where a grant application is made in respect of a course being pursued in an institution in the State, such as Stage Management and Technical Theatre in The Lir (National Academy of Dramatic Arts)...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I can confirm that the school to which the Deputy refers recently submitted an application to my Department for the replacement of prefabs. A technical site visit is due to be undertaken next week by officials from my Department and the school authorities have been notified of the details.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Grant Scheme Eligibility (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: To qualify for the special rate of grant an applicant must meet the following conditions: a. Reckonable income must not exceed €22,703. b. On 31 December of the relevant period the reckonable income must include an eligible long-term social welfare payment prescribed under the scheme. In the case of a student whose parents are divorced, legally separated or it is established to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department's policy is to promote a child-centred approach to education of all children with special educational needs including those with autism. As each child with autism is unique they should have access to a range of different approaches to meet their individual needs. This facilitates access to individualised education programmes which can be supported by Special Needs Assistants...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: My Department does not have a record of correspondence from the school referred to by the Deputy. If he wishes to provide a copy of correspondence, I will arrange for the issue raised by the school to be addressed. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Data (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 192 to 195, inclusive, together. I wish to advise the Deputy that 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...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Assistance Fund (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Student Assistance Fund is a component of the Third Level Access Measure which is managed on behalf of my Department by the Higher Education Authority and comprises two sub-priorities: the Student Assistance Fund and the Fund for Students with Disabilities. The overall value of the measure for the 2013/14 academic year was €16.2m. The management of the Third Level Access Measure...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staffing (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department clarified the criteria under which SNA support is allocated to schools, to support the care needs of qualifying children, in Circular 0030/2014, which issued to schools on 10th April 2014. While there has been no change to the way in which Special Need Assistants (SNAs) are allocated by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Universal Support Ireland Staffing (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: City of Dublin Education and Training Board is the designated single awarding authority for student grants in Ireland. SUSI was formally established in early 2012, as a new unit within CDETB with sanction for a staffing complement of 65 full-time equivalents. Subsequently, the additional resources recommended by the review carried out by Accenture were sanctioned in 2013. The additional...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Residential Institutions Redress Scheme (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012 provides that those former residents who received awards from the Residential Institutions Redress Board or equivalent Court awards or settlements are eligible to apply to Caranua. This approach was taken having regard to the maximum funds available of €110 million and a potential pool of some 15,000 applicants. As the Deputy may...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Support Schemes (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 200 and 201 together. I can appreciate that supporting a student through third level education can be challenging. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: National Council for Special Education (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: I wish to advise the Deputy that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) published its Report on a Proposed New Model for Allocating Teachers for Students with Special Educational Needs on 18th June 2014. The NCSE, consulted widely with education partners, representatives of the disability sector, stakeholders and parent representative groups, during the course of the development...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: As the Deputy will be aware, the Government gave approval in March of this year for drafting the Education (Admissions to Schools) Bill 2014. The General Scheme has since been referred to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government for drafting. Drafting of the Bill is currently underway. The objective of the Admissions to School Bill is to provide an over-arching framework to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: 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 and the deployment of classroom teachers are done at local school level. The national average class size at primary level is 24.7 pupils. However, with over 21,100 classes in over 3,100 primary schools...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (9 Oct 2014)

Jan O'Sullivan: 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. To ensure that this is achieved, the delivery of major school projects to meet significant demographic demands nationally will be the main focus for capital investment in schools in the coming years. ...