Results 10,101-10,120 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Third Level Courses: Third Level Courses (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: A first-stage process evaluation of Springboard, which includes a report on the initial outputs of the programme, is available on the HEA's website: www.hea.ie. It shows that the programme has been very successful to date in reaching its target cohorts. At the end of December 2011, 4,305 people were participating in Springboard programmes. 72% of participants were male and 77% were aged...

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 45 and 56 together. As the Deputy is aware, an application for planning permission forms part of the site acquisition process for the school to which they refer. A draft design for the school was discussed with the school authority and the design is currently being revised in light of those discussions. The current position of all projects on the school...

Written Answers — Higher Education Standards: Higher Education Standards (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I understand that the Deputy is referring to the Times Higher Education World Rankings published last October. International ranking systems and league tables of this nature need to be interpreted with caution as criteria between one set of rankings and another can have material differences on outcomes on different league tables. Furthermore, their focus on individual institutional...

Written Answers — Third Level Courses: Third Level Courses (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The purpose of the system development reforms outlined in the National Strategy is to improve quality outcomes for all students and to enhance the capacity of the higher education system to meet growing future demand. On Monday 13th February, the HEA published a number of system development papers outlining key parameters for system development. Institutions have now been asked to consider...

Written Answers — Third Level Remuneration: Third Level Remuneration (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The majority of employees in the third-level sector who continue to earn more than €200,000 per annum are Academic Medical Consultants, remuneration for whom falls in the main within the remit of the Minister for Health. Any changes to the terms and conditions of these consultants will have to be considered in the context of the Minister for Health's approach towards the remuneration of all...

Written Answers — Languages Programme: Languages Programme (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Modern Languages in Primary Schools Initiative has been a pilot scheme involving approximately 550 schools that has operated since 1998. The decision to end the scheme took account of a 2008 Report by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA). The report identified serious issues with curricular overload at primary level. The NCCA's advice recommended for the present...

Written Answers — Educational Disadvantage: Educational Disadvantage (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Report on the impact, in terms of posts, of Budget measures on DEIS Band 1 and Band 2 urban primary schools that still had additional posts allocated under disadvantage schemes pre-dating DEIS, was published earlier this week. The report provides data on 140 DEIS Band 1 and DEIS Band 2 schools who were identified as being impacted by possible loss of posts, over and above their...

Written Answers — Languages Programme: Languages Programme (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Barcelona Conclusions are non-binding and express the views and intentions of the European Council. Individual member states are invited to adopt the approaches set out in the Conclusions insofar as is appropriate to their particular national priorities, circumstances and resources. My Department fully accepts the desirability of this approach as an EU policy direction. This does not...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The current economic climate requires difficult decisions to be made across all areas of public expenditure. However, given its centrality to future economic growth, the Government has sought to protect, in as far as possible, investment in research and development. This year my Department is providing some €38 million to support research activities across a range of programmes, including...

Written Answers — Languages Programme: Languages Programme (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: There are a range of foreign languages available on the curriculum in schools -- French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese and Arabic. Chinese and Portuguese are not on the curriculum. It is not possible in the current budgetary situation to expand the range of languages on the post primary curriculum. 81% of second level pupils study three languages, Irish, English and a...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating resource teachers and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support. This now...

Written Answers — Literacy Levels: Literacy Levels (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I published the National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among Children and Young People 2011 to 2020 in July 2011. The Strategy contains 41 actions and almost 180 sub-actions across 6 key areas. A high level implementation advisory group has been established to monitor strategy implementation. There has been significant progress in implementing the early actions of the Strategy...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: A key part of the Government's overall budgetary strategy is a requirement to reduce the public sector payroll. This will continue to be the case until we close the gap between what we spend as a country and what we take in through taxes. Given that one third of all public sector employees work in the Education sector it is simply not possible to completely exempt staffing levels in education...

Written Answers — Garda Vetting of Personnel: Garda Vetting of Personnel (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The arrangements for vetting of teaching and non-teaching staff were introduced in September 2006. In late 2010, my Department issued Circular 0063/2010 which updated and clarified the requirements for Garda vetting as part of recruitment procedures for all teaching and non-teaching positions. Responsibility for complying with the vetting requirements rests with the school authority as...

Written Answers — Freedom of Information: Freedom of Information (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The Department of Education and Skills received 1,170 requests under the Freedom of Information Acts in 2011. 142 of the requests sought non-personal information. Search and retrieval fees were sought and paid in respect of 4 requests. The largest fee sought in respect of a request was €1046.82.

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: In 2011 twenty staff retired from my Department. The cost of pension lump sum gratuities amounted to €1.3m. The total cost of pension amounted to €211,665 in 2011. The staff concerned will receive a similar pension payments in 2012 and as such on a full year costing will amount to approximately €400,000. When the last Government's term of office concluded in 2011 seven ministerial...

Written Answers — Departmental Correspondence: Departmental Correspondence (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: It is a requirement of the Official Languages Act that documents setting out public policy proposals, annual reports, statements of strategy, and matters considered to be of major public importance, are communicated by Government Departments in both Irish and English. Given this Act, and the obligations under the Education Act to promote bilingualism, to promote Irish as a community language...

Written Answers — Sonraí Staitistiúla: Sonraí Staitistiúla (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Tá na sonraí staitistiúla don scoilbhliain 2010/11 ar fáil anois ar laithreán greasáin na Roinne http://www.education.ie/home/home.jsp?pcategory=17216&ecateg ory=47122&language=EN. Tá an fhaisnéis staitistiúil don scoilbhliain reatha á cur le céile sa Roinn agus beidh sé dlite le haghaidh foilseacháin i mí Mheán Fómhair 2012.

Written Answers — Third Level Fees: Third Level Fees (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The information sought by the Deputy is not readily available in the Department. The Higher Education Authority has been requested to contact each institution seeking a response and I will forward the available data to you as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Higher Education Evaluation: Higher Education Evaluation (23 Feb 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The National Strategy for Higher Education recommended the development of an Irish National Student Survey (INNS) as a key tool in the wider performance and quality measurement of Irish higher education. There has been significant progress in its development by a Steering Group comprising institutional research officers and academics from the universities, colleges and institutes of...