Results 8,881-8,900 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

School Staffing. (18 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The principal is making his appeal on that basis but he lost out on the September number because some families moved — I remember him telling me this. It is a very objective system. At the outset Deputy Quinn stated the school was only down by three pupils but there are schools which are down by only two or one. Teachers are employed in different schools on the basis of a panel. It is a...

Written Answers — School Enrolments: School Enrolments (18 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: Enrolment in individual schools is the responsibility of the managerial authority of those schools and the Department does not seek to intervene in decisions made by schools in such matters. My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking places. This may result, however, in some pupils not obtaining a place in the...

Written Answers — Departmental Reports: Departmental Reports (18 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The information sought by the Deputy is being compiled in my Department and will be sent to him as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (18 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will be aware, the Department is liaising with Fingal County Council in relation to a number of sites to be acquired under the Fingal School Model Agreement for educational provision in September 2008. The location for the new school, to which the Deputy refers, is being actively considered in that context.

Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (18 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The Property Management Section of the Office of Public Works, which acts on behalf of my Department in relation to site acquisitions generally, has been requested to source a site for a new national school in Monreagh. When the site acquisition process is finalised, consideration will be given to progression of the project in the context of the multi-annual School Building and Modernisation...

Written Answers — Third Level Fees: Third Level Fees (18 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: Under my Department's Free Fees Initiative the Exchequer meets the tuition fees of eligible students who are attending approved undergraduate third-level courses in the State. There are no plans to extend this initiative to cover third level institutions in Northern Ireland. Under my Department's Higher Education Grant Schemes, maintenance grants are available to eligible students pursuing...

Written Answers — School Funding: School Funding (18 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 198 to 200, inclusive, together. The funding arrangements for existing recognised schools and the terms governing those arrangements are set out in Department circulars and notices including the arrangements for the payment of additional monies to schools having regard to the level of educational disadvantage of students in schools. These arrangements carry...

Written Answers — School Funding: School Funding (18 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 201 and 202 together. Schools receiving State aid, including denominational schools, take into account the wishes of parents in relation to the religious education of their children, including the wishes of parents who may not want to have their children follow any programme of religious education and this is provided for in Section 30 of the 1998 Education...

Written Answers — Teacher Training: Teacher Training (18 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I understand that what is at issue here are the entry requirements that must be satisfied by applicants for the Post Graduate Diploma in Education (Primary Teaching). I consider that in the case of primary school teacher training it is essential that participants applying for the course meet the required criteria, as currently set down, which are common to all Colleges of Education that...

Written Answers — Road Safety: Road Safety (18 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: In general, individual school authorities are responsible, in the first instance, for ensuring the safety and welfare of children and others in their care, including traffic management measures. The issue of road safety measures outside the vested site areas of schools, such as road signage, traffic calming measures etc., is a matter that should be raised in the first instance with the...

Written Answers — Educational Disadvantage: Educational Disadvantage (18 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: Among the priority funding measures approved for support in 2006/2007 under the Educational Disadvantage category of the Dormant Account Fund and the RAPID Leverage Fund, was a scheme addressing educational infrastructure in disadvantaged schools. Eligibility for the scheme was restricted to primary and post primary schools participating in my Department's DEIS programme; schools in, or...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (18 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: As part of the modernisation agenda for teachers under the Social Partnership Agreement Towards 2016 it was agreed to address the issue of difficulties in relation to Teacher performance. It was recognised that while the vast majority of teachers fulfil their teaching function and professional duties adequately and well, there are, as in all professions, a small number of under performing...

Written Answers — Teacher Training: Teacher Training (18 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: In 2003, my Department informed each of the Colleges of Education of its support for the inclusion of the Bachelor of Education Degree programme within the Direct Application Scheme for third level places in order to facilitate socio-economically disadvantaged school leavers who wished to train as primary teachers. The Direct Entry Scheme, with a maximum of 5% of all entrants, excluding those...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (18 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: Students from this State who are attending undergraduate courses in any EU Member State can apply for maintenance grants in respect of approved courses which are pursued in colleges approved for the purposes of the schemes. My Department's Third Level Student Maintenance Grant Schemes were extended to provide maintenance grants to eligible students pursuing approved full-time undergraduate...

Written Answers — Departmental Websites: Departmental Websites (18 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy is aware, my Department has translated and made available on its website documents in Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Spanish, German and Russian. The information translated is aimed at assisting parents of school going children and the languages currently provided were identified, based on available data, as meeting the greatest need. The final element of this project has...

Written Answers — National Development Plan: National Development Plan (18 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The budget for 2007 is the first year of the roll out of the new NDP. This funding will enable my Department to continue to take a proactive approach to the provision of modern school accommodation particularly in developing areas. This year alone around over €540 million will be spent on school building infrastructure with over 1,500 projects on my Department's school building programme....

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (17 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The information requested by the Deputy is not readily available in my Department and would involve an inordinate amount of administrative time to compile. Following is list of bodies under the aegis of my Department. If the Deputy has any queries in relation to a particular body then officials in my Department would be more than happy to discuss these with him. Bodies under the Aegis of the...

Written Answers — Anti-Poverty Strategy: Anti-Poverty Strategy (17 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: Poverty proofing was introduced in 1998 on foot of a commitment in the first National Anti-Poverty Strategy. It is defined as "the process whereby Government policies and programmes are assessed at design, implementation and review stages in relation to their impact on poverty and on inequalities which are likely to lead to poverty, with a view to poverty reduction". Since 1998 it has been a...

Written Answers — Departmental Correspondence: Departmental Correspondence (17 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: My Department has not received a response from the Bureau of the European Schools as yet. The person to whom the Deputy refers has been in communication with my Department and was advised on 12/10/07 to make direct contact with the authorities of the European School in question.

Written Answers — Languages Programme: Languages Programme (17 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: In order to meet the language needs of students in our schools whose first language is not English or Irish, additional support is given to their schools which can take the form of financial assistance, additional teaching posts or portions of posts. The level of extra financial or teaching support provided to any school is determined by the numbers of eligible non-English speaking students...