Results 8,841-8,860 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Health Services in Schools: Health Services in Schools (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department does not operate the schools medical examinations service and I am not therefore in a position to comment on the matters raised by the Deputy. These matters are more appropriate to my colleague, the Minister for Health.

Human Rights Issues (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Approximately 15 months after the Libyan uprising began it is clear the Libyan people, supported by the international community, are making progress towards establishing a democratic and functioning state. However, as the Deputy indicated, major challenges remain. Ireland has engaged actively on this issue in the UN and EU frameworks, lending support to international efforts to promote...

Human Rights Issues (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. No one underestimates the challenges facing Libya today. It has suffered four decades of misrule by one man and the country must be rebuilt virtually from scratch. This is a very difficult task in this modern time. It is vital that respect for and promotion of human rights remain central to the mission of the current interim government...

Schools Building Projects (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of Scoil Bhríde primary school in Portlaoise. I welcome the opportunity it affords me to outline the Government's strategy for capital investment in school building projects over the next five years. It also allows me to outline the new school accommodation to be delivered in Portlaoise under the five-year construction programme and to update the...

Schools Building Projects (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I am not.

Schools Building Projects (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Portlaoise deserves them.

Schools Building Projects (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: We fully recognise that Portlaoise is quite extraordinary and unique in the scale and rapidity with which the population has increased. There are procedures in place and we have brought forward our procedures six weeks ahead of the projected time. There are difficulties with the management and the Department, and the Deputy is better placed to find out about those on the ground. Certainly,...

Higher Education Grants (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy will be aware, as part of the overall budget measures announced last December, it was signalled that it is proposed to amend the means test for student grants to take account of the value of certain capital assets as well as income for new applicants from the 2013-14 academic year. A capital asset test implementation group has been convened to develop and bring forward detailed...

Higher Education Grants (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: This has been an issue for a long time, dating back to the Dónal de Buitléir report in the mid-1990s. It was a time when the tax records of the self employed, be they farmers or people with small businesses, were far less accurate and up to date and, I dare say, probably capable of a manipulation then that is not the case now. I accept that the regulatory framework and the taxation and...

Higher Education Grants (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I accept that.

Higher Education Grants (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I welcome the Deputy's comments and his acceptance that in the past things were done differently and in a way that none of us would agree with today. However, we are dealing with the present. I have no wish to introduce a new system of means assessment that is unfair. That is not my intention. It will therefore receive rigorous analysis and scrutiny before we proceed. I recognise the...

Higher Education Grants (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Would it be in order for me to propose that the House accepts Deputy Colreavy?

Higher Education Grants (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Members can set a precedent.

School Uniforms (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The back to school clothing and footwear allowance scheme, operated by the Department of Social Protection, provides support for eligible families to assist with the extra costs when their children start school each autumn. As the Deputy is aware, eligibility for the back to school allowance is determined and administered by the Department of Social Protection and is, therefore, primarily a...

School Uniforms (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I thank the Deputy.

School Uniforms (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy is asking me to do all I can within my power to alleviate the cost and I will do this. However, my power is somewhat limited. I have already had informal discussions with the National Parents Council at primary level in this regard and in the first instance, I recommend that it should mobilise the parents associations and parents' representatives on boards of management, at both...

Literacy Levels (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: There has been extensive analysis of the PISA 2009 results. This includes a recent Educational Research Centre, Drumcondra, report that summarises all of the research the Educational Research Centre, ERC, and experts from Statistics Canada have completed on the achievement of Irish students. The report confirms the possible reasons that were given by the ERC to explain a portion of the...

Literacy Levels (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I share the Deputy's concern. I was in Opposition when the PISA results were first published. The heads of the results were communicated, as they are to all the national departments, in August of that year. Consequent to that information, research was commissioned by the Department. The ERC in Drumcondra also did some work on this. It was suggested that the increase in the number of...

Departmental Agencies (24 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I am responding to this question on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State for Education and Skills, Deputy Ciarán Cannon. Following the Government decision to create SOLAS, an implementation Group was set up to establish it My colleague, Minister of State, Deputy Ciarán Cannon chairs this group, the membership of which includes representatives from the Department of Education and...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (23 May 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The current focus in schools is on using ICT (a) as a tool in learning and (b) to improve the quality of teaching and learning across the curriculum, guided by the ICT curriculum framework developed by the NCCA. This framework is supported by extensive digital resources on the Scoilnet website, by professional development programmes for teachers and by investment in ICT infrastructure. All...