Results 881-900 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Higher Education Courses Applications (7 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: The Disability Access Route to Education (DARE) is a third-level admissions scheme for students with a disability. The scheme is operated by a number of higher education institutions and not by my Department. Admissions to the institutions are regulated by the institutions themselves. The Deputy may wish to contact the Irish Universities Association in this instance. Further details in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (7 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: The approach to teaching and learning in schools is that teachers use differentiation to address different rates of learning and learning skills and abilities in pupils. My Department supports the holistic development of the student and, other than in the case of Irish (which is under review), exempting pupils from a key subject area, such as mathematics, is not recommended in view of the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (7 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: 15 additional classrooms were put in place in the area to which the Deputy refers for the 2013/2014 school year following the completion of two new school buildings for a Gaelscoil and an Educate Together school. Devolved funding has been made available for the provision of a further 5 mainstream classrooms to cater for accommodation needs in the area in 2013 and 2014. The breakdown of this...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Status (6 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: The Major School Building Project referred to by the Deputy is currently at an advanced stage of Architectural Planning. The Stage 2b Submission (Detailed Design) has been received in my Department and is currently under review.The Design Team have been requested to submit additional information which on receipt will be reviewed and subject to no other issues arising, officials from my...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: State Bodies Expenditure (6 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: I understand from Caranua that it retained Athena Media following a process of tendering and approval by the Board to provide communications advice and to develop and implement a communications strategy for the organisation, particularly in relation to public awareness raising about the application process, including distribution of posters and leaflets, development of material for media...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects Administration (6 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy will be aware that the Five Year Construction Plan, that I announced in March 2012, lists the individual school projects that are planned to proceed to construction over the duration of the Plan. The Plan priorities new school building projects as well as major extensions in areas where significant demographic need has been established so that our school system is in a position to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Traveller Community (6 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: I have no plans to provide funding to schools to enable them to participate in the Irish Traveller Movement's yellow flag programme. In the current economic climate there is no scope to provide additional funding to schools for particular programmes such as this one. However schools are of course free to prioritise their existing allocation from the Department to meet the identified...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: University Legal Fees (6 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: The information requested by the Deputy is not available in my Department, however, I have asked the Higher Education Authority to request details from NUIG and I will forward it to the Deputy when it is received.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Teachers' Remuneration (6 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: In 2012 a public service-wide review of allowances was carried out by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. As a result of the review, qualification allowances were abolished with effect from 1st February 2012. Department of Education and Skills Circular 0008/2013 outlines the effect of this decision on teachers. The circular was agreed under the auspices of the Teachers'...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Data (6 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department provides for a range of placement options and supports for schools which have enrolled pupils with special educational needs in order to ensure that, wherever a child is enrolled, they will have access to an appropriate education. Children with special educational needs may be enrolled in a mainstream school and attend all mainstream classes and receive additional teaching...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (6 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: I am pleased to advise the Deputy that my Department approved grant aid to the school in question on 30 April for the construction of one mainstream classroom with associated toilet facilities and two resource teaching spaces for children with special educational needs. The school has since accepted this grant. The school was also included on the list of successful schools under the Summer...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Courses Availability (6 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: The information requested is not readily available in my Department, however, enquiries are being made with UCD and the Deputy will be responded to as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Funding (6 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: The position is that my Department allocates recurrent funding to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for direct disbursement to the HEA institutions, including the Universities and Institutes of Technology. It is then a matter for the institution to determine how this funding is allocated internally. It is an institution's responsibility, as an autonomous body, to ensure that its academic...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (6 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: The Forward Planning Section of my Department is currently analysing demographics on a nationwide basis to identify areas where additional school accommodation might be needed into the future. The Dublin 17 area will be examined as part of this process.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Staffing (6 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that in December 2013, the Government announced it was increasing the number of SNAs available for allocation to schools, to reflect demographic growth and increased demand for SNA support. The existing provision for 10,575 posts has been increased to 10,965 posts being made available for allocation by the end of 2014. This will bring to almost 11,000 the number...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs Services Provision (6 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: I am pleased to advise the Deputy that my Department has approved a special needs unit for the school to which he refers. The architectural planning for the unit is currently underway and my Department is in ongoing contact with the school in that regard. The school's design team have submitted proposals relating to the unit to my Department for consideration and these are currently being...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Weight of Schoolbags (6 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: The report of the working group recognised that many of the solutions belong at local school level and made various recommendations in this regard, such as optimum use of storage facilities, developing pupil organisation skills and timetabling. It is therefore best dealt with locally at school level rather than centrally in my Department. My Department issued circulars to all primary and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Autism Support Services (6 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 195 and 192 together. Providers of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) are responsible for content and development of their programmes. Providers must have regard to the Criteria and Guidelines published by the Teaching Council, the statutory body with responsibility for the regulation of the teaching profession. All ITE Programmes are subject to ongoing review...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Autism Support Services (6 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 193 and 194 together. As the Deputy is aware my Department's position is that as each child with autism is unique, they should have access to a range of different approaches to meet their individual needs. Applied Behavioural Analysis, or ABA, is one of the approaches used in special classes for children with autism. The use of ABA as part of the range of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Autism Support Services (6 May 2014)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 196 and 197 together. As outlined in my response to the Parliamentary Question on April 30th there are a range of supports available to schools in which the ASD classes operate. The supports in question are again outlined below with reference to the service each service provider specifically provides; it is not possible to be specific as the level of support...