Results 8,101-8,120 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Scholarship Programmes: Scholarship Programmes (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: In 1998, the George Mitchell Scholarship Programme was established and the Government agreed to contribute an endowment of IR£2 million to the Programme. The purpose of the Programme is to enable highly qualified American students to attend third level institutions in Ireland for post graduate studies. The George Mitchell Scholarship Fund Act was enacted in December 1998 and it empowered...

Written Answers — Scholarship Programmes: Scholarship Programmes (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: Since the commencement of the George Mitchell Scholarship Programme, a total of 93 US students have been awarded George Mitchell scholarships and have undertaken postgraduate studies in third level institutes in Ireland North and South. The breakdown for each academic year is as follows: Year 2000/2001 12 2001/2002 12 2002/2003 12 2003/2004 11 2004/2005 12 2005/2006 11 2006/2007...

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The school to which the Deputy refers applied to the Department for funding under the Small Schools Scheme 2007. Due to the volume of applications received it was not possible to allocate funding to all applicants and the school was not successful in this instance. The school has applied for funding under the Summer Works Scheme 2008 for window replacement. Decisions on this scheme will be...

Written Answers — Departmental Offices: Departmental Offices (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 451 and 455 together. My Department's offices in Dublin, Athlone and Mullingar open to the public from 9.15am to 5.30pm and do not close for lunch. The same times apply to the Department's main phone lines. The Department's Press Office operate from 8am to 8pm and the Press Officer can also be contacted outside normal office hours. The Department's Regional...

Written Answers — Schools Amalgamation: Schools Amalgamation (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 452 and 453 together. As the Deputy will be aware, the school to which he refers opened in September 2007 under the Patronage of the Catholic Archdiocese on a two year temporary basis. A decision on the future of Scoil Choilm will be taken in consultation with the interested parties.

Written Answers — Departmental Correspondence: Departmental Correspondence (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: My Department has recently developed its first eGovernment service — the Online Claims System. The system is a web based system which enables Primary, Secondary and Community/ Comprehensive schools to input claims for the payment of casual and non casual teachers and also record teacher absences on line using a computer in the school. The system was rolled out to Secondary and Community...

Written Answers — Departmental Offices: Departmental Offices (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: A number of the bodies and agencies under the remit of my Department are not required to have public offices because of the types of functions they carry out. Information on those agencies and bodies that do have public offices is currently being compiled in my Department and will be sent to him as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: My Department is spending over €540m this year on the delivery of over 1,500 school building projects throughout the country. This is the first phase of investment under the Government's National Development Plan which will involve over €4.5 billion being invested in school buildings over the next 7 years. This year alone will see construction work that will ultimately deliver over 17,500...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 458 and 459 together. The decision on eligibility for third level grants is a matter for the relevant assessing authority — i.e. the local authority or VEC. These bodies do not refer individual applications to my Department except, in exceptional cases, where, for example, advice or instruction regarding a particular clause in the relevant scheme is...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: An application for capital funding towards the provision of an extension at the school referred to by the Deputy has been assessed and the long term projected enrolments has been determined. In order to determine how best to provide for the school's future accommodation needs, a technical assessment of the existing school buildings will have to be carried out in order to finalise the...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy is aware, a new general allocation system was introduced in May 2005, under which schools have been provided with resource teaching hours, based on their enrolment figures, to cater for children with high incidence special needs such as dyslexia and those with learning support needs. The general allocation system means that rather than schools having to make individual...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The tender report for the school referred to by the Deputy is under examination in my Department at present. The school's Board of Management will be kept advised of developments when the examination is complete.

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The assessment of means under my Department's third level student support schemes is based on gross income from all sources of the candidate and his/her parents/guardians, where applicable, with certain social welfare and health service executive payments being exempt. Clause 13 of the Higher Education Grant Scheme deals with the declaration of income and other information. The clause...

Written Answers — Third Level Charges: Third Level Charges (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The student charge is levied by third level institutions to defray the costs of examinations, registration and students services, which are not covered by the free tuition fees scheme. The student charge is €825 for the 2007/2008 academic year. All students who are eligible for means tested student support have the student charge paid on their behalf by the Local Authorities or the...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I wish to inform the Deputy that in addition to a number of extension/ refurbishment projects there was one new 8 classroom school built in Wexford in the past three years. There are four major extension/refurbishment projects currently on site.

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I wish to advise the Deputy that in general, the Board of Management of a school is responsible for acquiring temporary accommodation, including procurement of prefabricated buildings. Accordingly the contract is between a school's Board of Management and a supplying contractor and thus the information requested in the format sought by the Deputy is not readily available.

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I can confirm to the Deputy that the school to which he refers has applied for large scale capital funding for the provision of ancillary accommodation. This application has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects and assigned a Band 2 rating. Progress on the project is being considered in the context of the multi-annual...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The Fund for Students with Disabilities has witnessed exponential growth over the last few academic years. The Fund continues to grow by approximately 20% per annum. Between 2003-4 and 2006-7 there has been an increase of 63% in the number of applications. Most categories of disabilities are increasing as the volume increases year on year, however, applications from people with specific...

Written Answers — Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme: Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I would refer the House to my reply to Question No. 300 of 21 November 2007. The Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS) is a second — chance education initiative, which is funded by my Department, for unemployed persons who are at least 21 years of age and in receipt of certain social welfare payments for at least six months. It is operated through the Vocational Education...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (4 Dec 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The Transition Year Programme (TYP) is part of the revised Senior Cycle structure. My Department provides a special per capita grant to schools in the free education scheme offering TYP. This is in respect of additional teaching hours required to allow for co-ordination and planning and for any other expenses related exclusively to the TYP. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the TYP grant...