Results 10,801-10,820 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: It is the policy of my Department to provide all new schools with access facilities and special toilets to cater for disabled students and teachers. In the architectural design of emergency evacuation routes, account is also taken of the requirements of students and teachers with disabilities. New schools with two storeys of more are provided with lifts. The school authorities are advised of...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: An application has been received in my Department, under the Small Schools Scheme 2007, from the school referred to by the Deputy. All applications received under this scheme are under consideration and the list of successful applicants will be published shortly.

Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: My Department has identified a potentially suitable c. 13 acre site for this school. Independent valuations have been received and my officials expect to be in contact with the owner's agent shortly to commence negotiations. When a suitable site has been secured, a building project for the school in question will be considered for progression in the context of the School Building and...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: An application for capital funding from the school to which the Deputy refers has been assessed and schedules of accommodation to meet the current and long term accommodation needs of the school have been drawn up by my Department. The further progression of this project will be considered in the context of the School Building and Modernisation Programme 2007-2011.

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: An application for an extension has been received from the school to which the Deputy refers. An assessment of projected enrolments, demographic trends and housing developments in the area, is currently under way in the Department which will assist in determining the long term projected enrolment for the school on which the school's long term accommodation needs will be based. When the...

Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: A suitable site has been identified for this school. The site comprises three lots of lands. Agreement on price has been reached in respect of Plots 1 and 2. The negotiations by the Office of Public Works in respect of Plot 3 have been difficult and protracted. In an effort to resolve the issues and to achieve a resolution of the accommodation needs of the school, my Department has recently...

Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The Department has acknowledged the need for a new primary school in the Rochestown area of Cork. A site has been reserved by the local authority and officials from the Department are currently engaged in the process of site acquisition.

Written Answers — Language Support Programme: Language Support Programme (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 507, 509, 510 and 511 together. In order to meet the language needs of students in our schools whose first language is not English, additional support is given to their schools which can take the form of financial assistance, additional teaching posts or portions of posts. The level of extra financial or teaching support provided to any school is determined by...

Written Answers — Language Support Programme: Language Support Programme (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: All language support teachers are qualified primary teachers and training is provided as part of PCSP in service. Teachers are provided with in-service training through Integrate Ireland Language and Training Limited (IILT). IILT provides training seminars for language support teachers, part-time or wholetime, along with classroom materials, including the European Language Portfolio, to...

Written Answers — Language Support Programme: Language Support Programme (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The programmes in the Colleges of Education contain a number of elements aimed at enabling student teachers to address the various needs of all pupils in the classroom, including students whose first language is not English. In particular, all students undertake a course to prepare them to teach English in accordance with the revised primary school curriculum. Two modules of this course are...

Written Answers — School Completion Programme: School Completion Programme (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The School Completion Programme which, until now, has operated in 82 sites nationally, is in the process of being extended to all urban/town primary schools and second-level schools participating in DEIS, the new Action Plan for Educational Inclusion which are not already benefiting from these services during 2006/2007 school year. Forty three additional clusters (including both primary and...

Written Answers — School Completion Programme: School Completion Programme (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The School Completion Programme which, until now, has operated in 82 sites nationally, is in the process of being extended to all urban/town primary schools and second-level schools participating in DEIS, the new Action Plan for Educational Inclusion which are not already benefiting from these services during 2006/2007 school year. Forty three additional clusters (including both primary and...

Written Answers — Education Schemes: Education Schemes (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: Last month, I met with the group which represent this unit along with the other units in the pilot scheme. Officials in my Department have since followed up with a further meeting with the group to discuss how best to progress the permanent status sought by the units and are exploring how best to proceed in this regard.

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The position regarding the full decentralisation of 300 posts to Mullingar is that I understand that the Office of Public Works (OPW) has made significant progress towards the acquisition of a site for permanent office accommodation for my Department. The OPW has indicated to the Decentralisation Implementation Group that it estimates that this accommodation will be available for occupation...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The mainstream staffing of a primary school for a particular school year is determined by reference to the enrolment of the school on the 30th September of the previous school year and by reference to a staffing schedule. This staffing schedule for the 2006/07 school year is outlined in Primary Circular 0023/2006 which was issued to all primary schools. In the current school year (2006/07)...

Written Answers — Teaching Qualifications: Teaching Qualifications (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: The person referred to by the Deputy is seeking payment of arrears under the Part-Time Workers Act 2001. Arrears entitlements conferred on casual/non-casual teachers under the terms of the Act apply to qualified teachers only. A teacher in a voluntary secondary school is considered qualified if they can be registered as a secondary teacher, i.e. they must have a degree with teaching subjects...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: I can advise the Deputy that the pupils to whom the Deputy refers are due to enrol in an autism class being newly provided for within a national school in Kilkenny and that a teacher has been appointed in this regard. Preparations are currently being made to accommodate the class within the school campus. The Deputy will be aware of my commitment to ensuring that all children, including those...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: Caretaking staff in schools are employed by the individual school authorities. My Department provides funding under two separate schemes towards the cost of employing these staff. One such scheme is the 1979 scheme for the employment of full-time caretakers in primary schools under which my Department meets the full cost of pay. In 2006 I introduced, with the concurrence of the Minister for...

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: Information in relation to class sizes is provided in the annual census of primary schools. The census for the current school year (2006/2007) is currently being worked on. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that this Government has halved the number of children in Longford in classes of 30 or more and has reduced the number in classes of 35 or more by 75%. The details of average class size in...

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (20 Feb 2007)

Mary Hanafin: Information in relation to class sizes is provided in the annual census of primary schools. The census for the current school year (2006/2007) is currently being worked on. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that this Government has significantly reduced the number of children in Westmeath in classes of 30 or more and has cut the number in classes of 35 or more by 75%. The details of average...