Results 10,661-10,680 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Disadvantaged Status (19 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I will review this in a short time. Savings will have to be made and they will have to come from the primary school budget of the Department. Until such time as I see those figures, I will not make any predictions. It will affect the majority of schools in some shape, size or form. The scale and extent of it now needs to be decided.

Disadvantaged Status (19 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Some of these questions have already been answered. I will answer them again. There will be no reduction in DEIS band 1 or DEIS band 2 allocations. It was proposed that those schools that had retained support services prior to the introduction of DEIS would have them removed. Not all DEIS schools have such services. I will remind Members, particularly Deputy O'Brien, that 60% of socially...

Disadvantaged Status (19 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Fairness.

Third Level Courses (19 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: In May of last year I formally asked the Higher Education Authority to provide advice to me on draft performance criteria for a process for the designation of technological universities. Draft criteria had been deployed by an international expert commissioned by my Department following the publication of what is known as the Hunt report. In developing its advice, the authority undertook a...

Third Level Courses (19 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: There was a very misleading headline in a piece in The Irish Times earlier this week. No decision has been made on a technological university in the south east or anywhere else. In my formal reply I gave the Deputy the facts as they currently are. Once the criteria are published, it will then be up to institutions to decide whether they wish to collaborate with other institutions and...

Third Level Courses (19 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The HEA published a set of criteria on collaboration, joint ventures and a host of other ways in which, in the spirit of the Hunt report, the institutions can combine. Instead of having a binary system of universities and institutes of technology, we should have an integrated third level system. It is up to the institutions to start to explore that new territory and a prescriptive political...

Third Level Courses (19 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I do not want to devalue the level and quality of third level education in this country by changing names. If institutions wish to aspire to a set of criteria that would give them the designation of technological university they have to meet that criteria. There will be no political interference from my Department or me on that matter. Otherwise we will devalue the entire third level...

Third Level Courses (19 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I agree with the observations made by the Deputy and I can assure him that there is joined up thinking. It will be driven by the institutions. They will be given encouragement to make sensible, collaborative associations. We do not want political interference. These decisions should be made in the best interests of the totality of the institutions and the education sector in which...

Written Answers — Residential Institutions Redress Scheme: Residential Institutions Redress Scheme (19 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Following my meeting with representatives of the Bethany Home Survivors Group last year, I reviewed the relevant papers in relation to the Home. Having taken all the circumstances into account, I found no basis to revisit the decision not to include the Home within the Residential Institutions Redress Scheme. That remains the position.

Written Answers — Literacy and Numeracy Strategy: Literacy and Numeracy Strategy (19 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Literacy and Numeracy for Learning and Life: The National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among Children and Young People 2011-2020 acknowledges the important role which libraries play in literacy development through engagement with learners, parents, early childhood education settings, schools and communities. The Strategy envisages that libraries will support parents and families...

Written Answers — Third Level Charges: Third Level Charges (19 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Continuing high demand for higher education is extremely welcome in the context of the steps we are taking to support economic recovery and the development and expansion of sustainable employment opportunities into the future. This Government has had to take difficult and unpalatable decisions which will unfortunately mean that liable students will pay an increased student contribution from...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (19 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy is aware, my Department is currently in the process of acquiring a site for the school to which she refers. An application for planning permission forms part of the site acquisition process. 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 status of all projects on the...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (19 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: A total of 798 primary and 582 secondary community and comprehensive school teachers have applied to my Department for benefits on retirement in the period 1 December 2011 to 29 February 2012. Of these, 935 have given a February 2012 retirement date, with the breakdown in February between the levels as follows: 520 in primary and 415 in secondary, community and comprehensive school teacher....

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (19 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Plans are well underway to replace the 66 existing student grant awarding bodies with one single grant awarding authority. I have appointed the City of Dublin VEC to operate the centralised authority commencing operation for all new grant applicants for the 2012/13 academic year and implementation arrangements are well advanced for this purpose. It is intended therefore that the new grant...

Written Answers — Languages Initiative: Languages Initiative (19 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: My consideration of the modern language initiative is wider than one of funding alone. 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...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (19 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department has allocated a total of 170 teachers to teacher professional development of which 87 are employed full time in the Professional Development Service for Teachers. Teachers are engaged on a secondment basis from their schools and reviewed on an annual basis. These arrangements provide flexibility and ensure that the needs and priorities of the service are met while also...

Written Answers — School Patronage: School Patronage (19 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: In June of last year I announced that 20 new second level schools would be established up to 2017 to meet increasing demographics. These included new second level schools in both Dundalk and Drogheda, each with an indicative opening in 2014. Applications for patronage of the new second level schools to be established in 2013 and 2014 have been sought by my Department from prospective...

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

Ruairi Quinn: All schools must continue to provide guidance to their pupils. However, from September 2012 guidance provision will be managed by schools from within their standard staffing allocation. The impact of this decision for the school referred to by the Deputy will be to reduce its staffing by 3 posts out of a total of over 100 posts. Schools will have autonomy on how best to prioritise its...

Written Answers — School Statistics: School Statistics (19 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department continues to seek to enhance the quality and timeliness of datasets which are required for resource planning purposes, most notably in providing online facilities to streamline the collection of data. In recent years a number of initiatives have been developed in the area of online interaction with schools. There have been a number of developments in the area of pupil data...

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

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 26, 37 and 36 together. The requirement to find savings and control the increase in public sector numbers and remain within the new climate of fixed ceilings on teacher numbers, which is a key aspect of the EU/IMF Programme of Support and Ireland's overall budgetary strategy, is particularly challenging for my Department. Providing for increased enrolments is...