Results 9,101-9,120 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Residential Institutions Redress Scheme: Residential Institutions Redress Scheme (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The Residential Institutions Redress Board was established under Statute in 2002 to provide financial redress to victims of child abuse in residential institutions in order to assist them in their recovery and enhance the quality of the remainder of their lives. I wish to advise the Deputy that expenditure associated with the Redress Board to date is approximately €714 million including...

Written Answers — Teaching Qualifications: Teaching Qualifications (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: Teachers registered in Northern Ireland are currently eligible for registration as teachers with the Teaching Council subject to conditions relating to the Irish language requirement and probation. Holders of provisional recognition must meet the Irish Language requirement in order to be granted full recognition to teach in mainstream classes in national schools. In addition, they must...

Written Answers — Computerisation Programme: Computerisation Programme (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The ICT in Schools Programme commenced in 1998 and aims to provide all pupils with the opportunity to achieve computer literacy and acquire the necessary skills for participation in the Information Society. There has been significant investment over the period in providing computers to schools, professional development ICT courses for teachers, improving the availability of digital content,...

Written Answers — Third Level Fees: Third Level Fees (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The student charge is levied by third level institutions to defray the costs of examinations, registration and students services, which are not covered by the free tuition fees scheme. In recent years the charge has been increased from €750 for the academic year 2004/05, to €775 in 2005/06, to €800 in 2006/07 and now stands at €825 for 2007/08, an increase of €25 per student per...

Written Answers — School Placement: School Placement (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: In recent years, unprecedented levels of investment has been provided both to improve existing school facilities and to provide extra school places where they are needed. Improved forward planning has also been put in place through greater cooperation between the Department of Education and local authorities and the publication of 10-year Area Development Plans by my Department. This...

Written Answers — Languages Programme: Languages Programme (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I am conscious of the challenges that moving to a different country poses for many people, especially where a different language is spoken in the new location. These challenges are particularly acute in cases where children are involved and where neither they, nor their parents, speak the language of their new home. My Department gives an annual grant to all Vocational Education Committees...

Written Answers — Departmental Properties: Departmental Properties (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: As of the 31st December, 2006, there were a total of 733 Post-Primary schools operating in the State. Of these, 91 are Community or Comprehensive Schools which are owned by my Department and 248 are Vocational Schools/Community Colleges that are owned by the relevant Vocational Education Committee. The remainder (394) are Voluntary Secondary Schools, which are privately-owned and primarily...

Written Answers — Third Level Fees: Third Level Fees (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy is aware, I have stated on many occasions that the Government has no plans for the reintroduction of third level tuition fees.

Written Answers — State Examinations: State Examinations (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I am acutely aware of the need to address the demands placed on students in the Leaving Certificate written examinations each June. I have indicated that I favour a change to the current position with a view to reducing some of the existing pressures on students. I see scope for adjusting the subject spread over the initial days of the Leaving Certificate examination in order to provide for...

Written Answers — Education Schemes: Education Schemes (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to continue to operate grant schemes towards the cost of providing school textbooks for pupils from low-income families at primary and post-primary level and to provide additional funding as resources permit. Schools are notified of the details of the schemes each year by circular letter. For the purposes of these grants, a needy pupil is a pupil from a family where there is genuine...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will be aware the Primary and Second-Level schools have a responsibility to provide a broad, balanced and appropriate curriculum for all students. Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) is now part of the curriculum for all pupils in primary schools. It provides specific opportunities to enable the child to understand himself or herself, to develop healthy relationships,...

Written Answers — Schools Amalgamation: Schools Amalgamation (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: There are approximately 3,400 primary schools in the country. The number of schools currently engaged in amalgamation discussions is difficult to determine given that the decision making authority for amalgamation ultimately belongs to the school patrons. The reasons for amalgamation can be many and varied ranging from, demography (decline in enrolments) to desire for co-education, to...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 125, 134, 150, 158 and 384 together. The OECD report to which the Deputies refer relates to 2004 and hence does not capture the extra investment that has been put into Irish education in the past three years. In fact, the education budget this year, at €8.6 billion, is €2 billion or 30% higher than in 2004. The report also doesn't capture the thousands of...

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will be aware, major improvements have been made in staffing at primary level in recent years. There are now 5,000 more primary teachers than there were in 2002. By the 2006/07 school year, we had reduced the average class size in our primary schools to 24, while the pupil teacher ratio was 16.4:1, including resource teachers etc. In that year, schools were staffed on the...

Written Answers — School Allowances: School Allowances (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The commitment in the Programme for Government is to examine how local authorities might grant allow schools a reasonable level of usage of water and waste services without charge, and that charges would only apply when a school exceeded the allowance. The Deputy will appreciate that it is a primarily a matter for my colleague the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 128, 144 and 156 together. As the Deputy will be aware, many positive developments in relation to the teaching of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) have taken place in recent years, and these have been further strengthened through making Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) a mandatory programme for junior cycle since September 2003. In...

Written Answers — Educational Projects: Educational Projects (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The Erasmus programme has been in existence since 1987. Since then, 1.7 million students Europe-wide, including 24,292 students from Ireland, have engaged in study periods abroad under the programme. In 1987, 112 Irish students participated in the programme; this figure rose to 1567 students in 2005-06. In 2005-06, Irish students spent periods abroad at a variety of universities in 23...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I would like to thank the Deputy for the opportunity to outline the services in curriculum development provided at primary school level by the relevant support services/agencies. The Primary Curriculum Support Service (PCSP) was set up to mediate the Primary School Curriculum for teachers and to enable them to implement it in their schools. The programme of support delivered to date has...

Written Answers — School Discipline: School Discipline (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I take the issue of bullying in schools, in all of its forms, including homophobic bullying very seriously and my Department and I are strongly committed to removing all barriers to full participation in education, including barriers caused by the sexual orientation of students. The Deputy will be aware that the education of students in both primary and post-primary schools in relation to...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (2 Oct 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 132 and 407 together. My Department funds four maintenance grant schemes for third level and further education students. These are the Higher Education Grants Scheme, the Vocational Education Committees' Scholarships Scheme, the Third Level Maintenance Grants Scheme for Trainees and the Maintenance Grants Scheme for Students attending Post Leaving Certificate...