Results 10,841-10,860 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — School Evaluations: School Evaluations (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: All primary and post-primary schools are subject to external evaluation by my Department's Inspectorate. Evaluations are carried out under published procedures and provide schools and the public with an assessment of the quality of school management, teaching, learning and support for students. These procedures are not intended to encompass individual complaints. For obvious reasons it is not...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I have no specific plans in this regard. However the Deputy may wish to be aware of related activity in the activation area. The Government is in the process of establishing SOLAS - the new Further Education and Training Authority - with a new remit in this area. FÁS is being disbanded. As part of that process, over 700 former FÁS community employment staff have recently joined the...

Written Answers — Third Level Review: Third Level Review (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy will be aware, the Department provided funding to Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LKIT) under the Strategic Innovation Fund to examine the potential for a strategic alliance with the University of Ulster (UU) and to identify areas where additional higher education capacity could be delivered in the north west region. As part of the project, a scoping study was undertaken...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 171, 220, 221 and 230 together. As part of the Budget 2012 decisions that have been announced, the Modern Languages in Primary Schools Initiative will be cease at the end of the 2011/2012 school year. The savings from this measure will go towards the cost of implementing the new National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, which is a key commitment in the...

Written Answers — Education Sector Staffing: Education Sector Staffing (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The overall percentage of staff that earn more than €100,000 per annum in the sectors mentioned is 1.9%. The individual percentages for each of the sectors are as follows: - Primary and secondary level education = 0.6% - Third level education = 6.9% - Vocational Education Committees (non-teaching staff) = 2.1% - Department = 2.6%

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter for the relevant grant awarding authority. The Deputy will appreciate that in the absence of all of the relevant details that would be contained in an individual's application form and supporting documentation, it would not be possible for me to say whether or not a student should qualify for a grant. However, an applicant may...

Written Answers — Enterprise Support Services: Enterprise Support Services (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: There are no financial supports available from my Department to fund the establishment of English language schools. Fáilte Ireland is responsible for the marketing and promotion of English language schools which are recognised under the Accreditation and Co-ordination of English Language Services (ACELS) function of the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland. Questions Nos. 178 and 179...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 180 and 181 together. A proposal for an academy for children with autism was submitted to my Department for consideration last year by Achieve ABA. This was one of a number of proposals which were submitted to my department and which were not approved for a variety of reasons, including the ready availability of placements for children with autism in state...

Written Answers — Third Level Courses: Third Level Courses (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: Under the Strategic Innovation Fund operated by the Higher Education Authority, the state provided €705,054 to Trinity College Dublin (TCD) during the period 2008-2011 in respect of the Centre for Contemporary Living. This funding award ended in 2011 and given the current budgetary situation, there are no plans for any new funding awards under this Fund. At present, there are 34 students...

Written Answers — Disadvantaged Status: Disadvantaged Status (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 192 to 215, inclusive, together. It is important to note that a key aspect of the EU/IMF Programme of Support and Ireland's overall budgetary strategy is a requirement to reduce the public sector payroll. In the Education sector finding savings and controlling the increase in public sector numbers is particularly difficult given that one third of all public...

Written Answers — Ministerial Staff: Ministerial Staff (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The names and salaries of each special advisor and other staff directly appointed by me, a Minister of State or those appointed by my Ministerial predecessors serving in this Department on 1 December 2009, 1 December 2010 and 1 December 2011 is set out in the following table. Minister Batt O'Keeffe T.D. 1st December 2009 Name Grade Annual Salary Mr. Bernard Mallee Special Advisor...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: While my Department does not run a graduate internship programme it does support and participate in various graduate internship programmes such as the FÁS Work Placement Programme, JobBridge – the National Internship Programme also run by FÁS and the Willing Able and Mentoring (WAM) programme run by the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability (AHEAD). We currently have...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The funding of the George Mitchell Scholarship Programme is a reflection of the Government's gratitude for the significant contribution made by Senator Mitchell to the promotion of peace and reconciliation on the island of Ireland. An Agreement was signed with the US-Ireland Alliance in March 1999. An Irish Government endowment of IR£2 million was subsequently paid into the Fund. The...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: As I have previously clarified for the Deputy, the Board of Management of the school in question has advised that the recommendations of the HSE report have been implemented in full. My Department remains in regular contact with the school and is satisfied that significant progress has been made. Officials in my Department continue to monitor the position and my Department's Inspectorate is...

Written Answers — Multidenominational Schools: Multidenominational Schools (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department published a Report on the Need for a Guidance Note to Schools when reviewing their policies on School Uniforms in 2008. The report is available on the Department's website at www.education.ie. The report acknowledges that the current system, whereby schools decide their uniform policy at a local level, is reasonable, works and should be maintained. The report indicates that...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: There are approximately 50,000 teachers employed in primary, voluntary, secondary, community and comprehensive schools who are paid on my Department's payroll. This figure does not include teachers in the vocational education sector. Where issues such as child protection arise, a teacher may be placed on administrative leave whilst the matter is being investigated. Currently 22 teachers on...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (11 Jan 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 — School Staffing: School Staffing (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations including organising the holding of examinations and determining procedures in places where examinations are conducted including the supervision of examinations. In view of the above I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to...

Written Answers — School Management: School Management (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: In accordance with the provisions of the Education Act 1998, the Board of Management is the body charged with the direct governance of a school. Individual school authorities are responsible for the drawing up of a school policy in relation to the wearing of school uniforms. However, my Department recommends that the formulation of such a school policy should allow for prior consultation with...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (11 Jan 2012)

Ruairi Quinn: The new simplified approach to the General Allocation Model of support for schools will make it easier to automatically update it annually in line with the changes in the number of classroom teachers in each school. Schools will also have autonomy on how to deploy the resource between language support and learning support depending on their specific needs. The arrangements for the staffing...