Results 8,741-8,760 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Regulatory Bodies: Regulatory Bodies (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Teaching Council is an independent statutory body established by the Teaching Council Act 2001 and my Department is not involved in the day to day affairs of the Council. The membership of the Council is as set out in the Act. There are 16 elected teachers on the Council. The Council is subject to the normal corporate governance arrangements applicable to public bodies. Neither the Act...

Written Answers — Regulatory Bodies: Regulatory Bodies (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Staff including the original appointees, are recruited by way of open competition, in accordance with norms, procedures and practices which generally apply to appointments to public sector posts. The composition of the Council provides for teacher representation. Of the 37 member Council, 16 are elected teachers and a further 6 members are nominated by teacher unions. The Council is...

Written Answers — Regulatory Bodies: Regulatory Bodies (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Teaching Council is an independent body established under the Teaching Council Act. Section 33 of the Teaching Council Act deals with the renewal of registration. Renewal of registration involves an application and payment of the renewal fee. The Council is responsible for the administrative arrangements in this matter. I understand that the Council has in the past provided the option...

Written Answers — Regulatory Bodies: Regulatory Bodies (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 238 and 240 together. The Teaching Council is the professional standards body for the teaching profession. The Council seeks to set and uphold high professional standards for teaching and teachers. It does this in the interests of pupils and the public good but equally for the reputation and status of the profession. Quality of teaching has been determined as...

Written Answers — Regulatory Bodies: Regulatory Bodies (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Teaching Council Act includes provisions governing membership, funding, accountability and the council's relationship with the Department. The legislation provides for the appointment of a 37 member council. The council has responsibility for operationalising the provisions of the Act and the development of the necessary organisational and collaborative strategies and structures for the...

Order of Business (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: It is proposed to take No. 12, motion re referral of papers to Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform; No. 13, motion re referral to joint committee of proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the freezing and confiscation of proceeds of crime in the European Union; No. 14, motion re referral to select sub-committee...

Order of Business (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I thank the House for the contributions of speakers. We have a very tight timetable within which to enact the legislation. It must be done by the end of this calendar month. We are sitting later and will be sitting late right through this entire parliamentary session. With regard to the order for today, we must have Second and Remaining Stages completed by the end of today in order to...

Order of Business (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: It is not.

Order of Business (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I have to disagree with the former Minister for Education's analysis, given his familiarity with the legislation he introduced in 1998. Career guidance is provided in schools. Resources have been altered.

Order of Business (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Principals have been given discretion to deploy-----

Order of Business (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The new circular has been communicated to all schools underlining and repeating the obligations under the legislation in respect of the provision of a school career guidance service. This will continue to be the case.

Order of Business (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The draft heads of the education and training boards Bill, to replace the VECs, have been circulated and discussed by the relevant Oireachtas committee. I am hoping to take Second Stage before the end of this session. We hope to have the SOLAS Bill, to replace FÁS, published by the end of the year. The intention is to try to meet the 1 January 2013 deadline for the legislation to be...

Order of Business (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy's exaggerated comments warrant a discussion on the circular within the context of the Education Act 1998. It is a matter for the Whips to decide when and how we should have this discussion.

Order of Business (6 Jun 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Comptroller and Auditor General's report is to be discussed at the Cabinet and it will be for the Minister for Finance to bring forward a recommendation based on that report, which is in the public domain. The fiscal responsibility Bill will be taken this session.

Departmental Agencies (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I will respond first to the Deputy's final question because it is the most pertinent. We have, and have had for years, an unstructured, informal and badly co-ordinated further education structure in this country, in respect of which no one in particular is to blame. The system has gone topsy over decades. SOLAS will be to the further education sector what the HEA is the higher education...

Departmental Agencies (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I share the concerns the Deputy expressed and agree with him. The kind of work FÁS did in the 1980s and 1990s is no longer appropriate to the needs of the labour market. The announcement I made on Monday of 6,000 new places for Springboard is much closer to what people actually want because the skills level of the labour market has been improved and the demand from industry for the jobs...

Expenditure Reviews (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: This Government on entering office ordered a comprehensive review of expenditure, whereby Departments reviewed their expenditure programmes in depth. This was done to realign spending with Government priorities, while also seeking expenditure savings, necessitated because of decisions of the past. My Department had to find savings of €76 million in 2012, rising to €379 million in...

Expenditure Reviews (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I welcome the Deputy's comments and am working co-operatively and constructively with my colleague and counterpart in Northern Ireland, who now has responsibility for the same set of responsibilities, including for higher education, as I have. However, Mr. O'Dowd is confronted with different problems. The schoolgoing population of Northern Ireland is declining. The Minister has stated that...

Third Level Courses (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: In 2010 there were almost 3,000 graduates from courses in economics, finance, banking, accountancy, insurance and taxation. In addition to programmes in these core skills areas, graduates from many other disciplines also find employment in the sector. Specific funding is also provided by my Department to the Skillnets Finuas networks programme, to develop and deliver specialised training...

Third Level Courses (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I know the Deputy has been working on a plan in this regard. I have not yet seen a copy of the report he has compiled. I ask him to submit it to the Department, if possible, so I can study it.