Results 841-860 of 16,057 for speaker:Mary Coughlan

Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (17 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: A statutory inquiry under Section 105 of the Vocational Education Act 1930 is ongoing at the moment. I am not in a position to comment further pending the outcome of that inquiry.

Written Answers — Languages Programme: Languages Programme (17 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: Significant support is given to schools by way of language support provision. The level of extra teaching support provided in respect of language support to any school is determined by the numbers of eligible pupils enrolled and the associated assessed levels of those pupils' language proficiency. This is done through an annual application process in the Spring/Summer of each year. Following...

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (17 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that additional funding has been provided by my Department to the school in question to enable them to complete the project.

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (17 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: I refer to the reply to Question No. 132 of 19 October, 2010. The position as stated at the time remains unchanged.

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (17 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: Funding for Emergency Works are made available to those schools most in need of resources as a result of unforeseen emergencies of a capital nature that may arise during the school year. The school referred to by the Deputy has submitted an application for funding under this scheme to my Department and this application is being assessed. A decision will issue to the school as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (17 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department is in receipt of a major capital application for the provision of a new school building for the school to which he refers. The former boys' school site is deemed to be the most suitable for future development of the school. The application has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria and assigned a band rating of...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (17 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: The recommendations made in the report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes were assessed and considered by my Department in the context of determining the expenditure allocation for the Department for 2010, which was announced in Budget 2010. The recommendations incorporated in Budget 2010, together with estimated savings yields for 2010 where...

Written Answers — Residential Institutions Redress Scheme: Residential Institutions Redress Scheme (16 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: The Government announced its intention to use €110m of the offers of contributions to be made by the religious Congregations over the next few years to establish a Statutory Fund on 15th April last. This proposal is in keeping with the all party Motion passed by Dáil Éireann, supporting the proposal for a Trust to be set up and managed by the State for the support of victims and for other...

Written Answers — Catchment Boundaries: Catchment Boundaries (16 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 93 to 95, inclusive, together. Catchment boundaries have their origins in the establishment of free post primary education in the late 1960s. For planning purposes, the country was divided into geographic districts, each with several primary schools feeding into a post primary education centre with one or more post primary schools. The intention was that these...

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (16 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: I can inform the Deputy that all primary and post-primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through my department's National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA). Schools that do not currently have NEPS psychologists assigned to them may avail of the SCPA, whereby the school can have an...

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (16 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: An application for funding under Emergency Works was submitted by the school in question. However, following an assessment of the application and in light of the nature and scale of the works involved it is not possible to provide funding at this time. It is open to the school authority to submit an application for these works under the next round of the Summer Works Scheme.

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (16 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that my Department recently authorised the Design Team to issue the Letter of Acceptance (i.e. award the contract). Assuming that no issues arise, it is expected that the project will commence construction within weeks and will take circa 12 months to complete.

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (16 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: I can confirm that the school to which the Deputy refers has applied to my Department for large scale capital funding for an extension/refurbishment. In accordance with the published criteria for large scale building projects, the project for this school has been assigned a Band 2 rating. Information in respect of the current school building programme along with all assessed applications for...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (16 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: The information requested by the Deputy on the number of special needs assistants employed in each county on the dates specified is not readily available. The number of Special Needs Assistants employed nationally in each of the past five years and on 30th September 2010 is available in the document below. The details for each of the past five years are the December figures for the year in...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (16 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: The details of the case referred to by the Deputy are being checked at present. I will arrange for the Deputy to be notified of the position.

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (16 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter, in the first instance, for the relevant grant awarding authority i.e. the applicant's local authority or VEC. Where a grant application is refused, the reason for the refusal is given by the grant awarding authority. An applicant may appeal the decision to the relevant local authority or VEC. Where the grant awarding authority...

Written Answers — School Services Staff: School Services Staff (16 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: In the context of the Towards 2016 Review and Transitional Agreement in 2008, it was agreed that the relevant parties would enter into discussions regarding the terms and conditions of both school secretaries and caretakers. Accordingly, a forum was set up with the aim of establishing the position in schools regarding the terms and conditions of certain school secretaries and caretakers...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (16 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: Currently there are no schemes for early retirement or voluntary redundancy open to officials at my Department other than the Cost Neutral Early Retirement Scheme which was introduced in early 2005. In the event any further new schemes of early retirement, voluntary redundancy or redeployment programmes are introduced for all civil servants or for staff of a particular grade, they will be...

Written Answers — School Management: School Management (16 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 106 and 107 together. The person referred to by the Deputy is employed by the Board of Management of the school. Issues relating to the appointment and the employment of the person including the personnel issues referred to are a matter for the Board. An official of my Department received a query in December 2009 from the secretary of the board of management...

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (16 Nov 2010)

Mary Coughlan: Funding for Emergency Works are made available to those schools most in need of resources as a result of unforeseen emergencies of a capital nature that may arise during the school year. The school referred to by the Deputy has submitted an application for funding under this scheme to my Department and this application is being assessed. A decision will issue to the school as soon as possible.