Results 9,301-9,320 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Fee Charging Schools: Fee Charging Schools (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The funding to which the Deputy refers is the arrangement whereby the salaries of teachers employed within the approved annual staffing allocation for fee charging schools by my Department are paid by the State, an arrangement that pre-dates the introduction of the Free Education scheme and which exists since the foundation of the State. The estimated cost of these posts is in the order of...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I can confirm that the school referred to by the Deputy has an application with my Department for capital funding for a major school project. Information in respect of the current status of all assessed applications for major capital works, including this project, is available on the Department's website at www.education.ie. In view of the need to ensure that every child has access to a...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The staffing arrangements for the 2012/13 school year are set out in Primary Circular 0007/2012 which is available on my Department's website. This includes the detail of the reform of the allocation process which is designed to bring a more equitable distribution of existing posts between schools. The new arrangements incorporate a long overdue updating of the GAM (learning support)...

Written Answers — Teachers' Remuneration: Teachers' Remuneration (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The information available in my Department in regard to the request by the Deputy is being compiled and will be forwarded directly to him. The information will relate to teachers in Primary, Secondary, Community and Comprehensive Schools. My Department does not hold information on the payment of increments to teachers employed by vocational education committees (VECs). Each VEC is a separate...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: My priority as Minister for Education and Skills is to preserve access to undergraduate higher education courses despite the difficult circumstances in our public finances. As a result, no changes were made to the eligibility criteria for undergraduate students in Budget 2012. It is also worth emphasising that 41% of all undergraduate students currently receive a grant and pay no student...

Teachers' Remuneration (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy will be aware, the review of allowances in the public service which is ongoing at the moment is being conducted by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and I understand that the Minister intends to bring proposals to Government shortly. The Government has reaffirmed the key commitments under the public service agreement, including that there will be no further...

Teachers' Remuneration (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I confirm everything I said at the teachers' conferences. It is clearly on the public record and I refer to it again here in the House. The Deputy is absolutely right. If an allowance is part of a payment and the allowance is reckonable for pensionable purposes, any reasonable person will conclude that it is part of one's pay and conditions. These matters are still ongoing. On the second...

Teachers' Remuneration (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I share the Deputy's view. Modern technology has aided and supported continuing professional development through online course provision in many professions, but it must be seen as an additional resource to face to face contact and the interaction provided by teaching centres. I will bear in mind what the Deputy has said because I recognise the necessity, as does the profession, for...

Educational Disadvantage (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: A key priority for my Department is to prioritise and target resources in schools with the most concentrated levels of educational disadvantage. That challenge is significant, given the current economic climate and the target to reduce public expenditure. This limits the capacity for any additionality in the DEIS programme. In this context, I have no immediate plans to undertake the type...

Educational Disadvantage (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I said I would review the decision, not reverse it.

Educational Disadvantage (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: No.

Educational Disadvantage (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Some of them will.

Educational Disadvantage (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The removal of legacy posts was intended to deal with cases in which there were two DEIS schools in a particular area or half a dozen DEIS schools in a particular area of disadvantage where it was possible to have two schools in the same socioeconomic grouping and locality, typically in the Deputy's constituency or the inner city part of my constituency, and one school would have more...

Educational Disadvantage (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I understand and share the Deputy's concerns about DEIS schools, but he is probably aware - as I am - that 60% of young people coming from disadvantaged homes are not being schooled in DEIS schools. There is not a ghettoisation or concentration of disadvantage in DEIS schools, although it is self-evident that there are large concentrations of disadvantage in such schools. However, that is...

Educational Disadvantage (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: A total of 140 band 1 and band 2 schools will retain the number of legacy posts required by them to implement more favourable pupil-teacher ratios under previous disadvantage schemes for the 2012-13 school year. A range of factors contribute to determining the staffing requirement for schools, including changes to enrolment and the reforms to the teacher allocation process for 2012-13 school...

Educational Disadvantage (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Deputy Smith referred to a number of individual schools. I do not have the information here and he will appreciate that.

Educational Disadvantage (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: He may wish to write to me or raise them separately. All I want to say is, we have limited resources. There is no political interference by me in the allocation of resources or individual teachers, and that is the way it should be. I think every Member in this House would accept that persons should get it on the basis of need relative to the available resources. In some cases, there may...

Special Educational Needs (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is responsible for allocating special needs assistants to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's established criteria for the allocation of special education supports and the staffing resources available to my Department. All schools, including these schools, were advised to apply...

Special Educational Needs (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I have asked the NCSE to develop proposals to review the operation of the EPSEN Act 2004, particularly in the area of appeals. The programme for Government refers to the EPSEN Act 2004 but I am constrained in commissioning all of the provisions of that Act because of the current position on resources.

Special Educational Needs (19 Apr 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As Deputy Wallace may be aware, during my visit to Wexford town for the TUI conference, I had the opportunity to meet two of the parents. I spoke to them briefly and stated that I would keep the position of special needs assistants and the operation of the NCSE under review.