Results 11,061-11,080 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (1 Dec 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: From the information made available to my Department by the 66 grant awarding authorities, 43,082 students have been awarded a grant so far this year under the student grant scheme. This includes both new applications and renewals. The information from 33 grant awarding authorities in this regard refers to the week ended 11 November 2011. The information from the remaining 33 awarding...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (1 Dec 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The allocation for the student grant scheme for the 2011 financial year - which covers both further and higher education - is some €386m. The expenditure up to the end of November is some €286m. The actual outturn on the student grant scheme will not be known until end of year claims, which are now due, from the 66 grant awarding authorities have been received and processed.

Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (1 Dec 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I can confirm to the Deputy that following an assessment of demographic data and the enrolment trends of primary schools in the Kildare Town area, I announced in June of this year that a new primary school will be required for the area in the coming years. In this regard, my Department is currently considering a number of accommodation options including the possible acquisition of lands at...

Order of Business (1 Dec 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Fianna Fáil going back to its roots.

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (30 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The 30th June 2011 was set as the deadline for the completion of all programmes supported by the Labour Market Activation Fund 2010. Projects have been informed that no further funding is available to extend their programmes beyond that date. Funding from the LMAF was made available to established education programme providers and not to individual participants. While the student is question...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (30 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The processing of student grants is carried out by local grant awarding authorities - VECs and local authorities. In the circumstances, it will be necessary for the students in question to contact County Mayo VEC to ascertain the position regarding their grant applications.

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (30 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: To be eligible to apply for JobBridge the applicant must be on the live register and have been in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance/Benefit or have been signing on for credits for at least 3 months. Incremental credit or pension credits will not be awarded to unemployed teachers who take up such internships as participation in the programme does not constitute employment and, as such,...

Written Answers — Departmental Scholarships: Departmental Scholarships (30 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I regret that the funding is not available to me in the current economic climate to set up the scholarship to which the Deputy refers.

Written Answers — Early Childhood Education: Early Childhood Education (30 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I take it that the Deputy means to encompass all pre-school provision when he refers to Montessori Education. Montessori Education is one pedagogical approach in use in the Early Years Sector. Other pedagogical philosophies and curricula include High/Scope, Steiner, Reggio Emilia, etc. All of these curricula can operate within Aistear, the Curriculum Framework for Early Education,...

Written Answers — Departmental Websites: Departmental Websites (30 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The annual cost of maintaining my Department's website in 2011 will be approximately €27,500. This figure includes the cost of an annual maintenance contract, a search engine licence and the Department's contribution to the Local Government Computer Services Board (LGCSB) for hosting the website. In the past year a total of 979,299 individual visitors made 1,620,304 visits to this site, a...

Written Answers — School Placements: School Placements (30 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Section 29 of the Education Act, 1998 provides for an appeal by a parent or guardian to the Secretary General of my Department, or in the case of a Vocational Educational Committee (VEC) school to the VEC in the first instance, where a Board of Management of a school, or a person acting on behalf of the Board, refuses to enrol a student in a school, expels a student or suspends a student for...

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (30 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: At this point I do not propose to give any specific commitment on the allocation of teachers to schools for the 2012/13 school year. The number of teaching posts that we can afford to fund in schools is a matter that I will have to consider with my colleagues in Cabinet in the context of the next budget and meeting our obligations under the EU/IMF Programme. The Government will endeavour to...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (30 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The decisions arising from the comprehensive expenditure review conducted in my Department will be published as part of the Budget on December 5th 2011. The Deputy will be aware that every line of expenditure has been examined by both my Department and the Government in an effort to see what savings can be made as part of this year's budgetary adjustment. Any changes to Supervision and...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (30 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The student grant appeal to which the Deputy refers was received in my Department on 11/10/2011 and an outcome issued to the student on 17/10/2011.

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (30 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Existing education policy is that students up to 18 years of age may attend primary and second level schools, irrespective of their nationality or status. Funding is provided by my Department in respect of pupils who are validly enrolled in primary and post-primary schools. Capitation funding provided to schools and funding provided for caretaking and secretarial services may be regarded as...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (29 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: A replacement school building for the existing VEC post-primary school in Maynooth has been approved. Earlier this year I also published details of new procedures and criteria for the establishment of new second level schools and of the process for determining the patronage of such new schools. I also announced details of 20 new second level schools that would need to be established between...

Written Answers — Sports Clubs: Sports Clubs (29 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy will be aware, it is my intention to lease the former community school site, including the sports complex, to the City of Dublin VEC. My Department has requested the VEC to ensure that the club referred to by the Deputy continues to have use of the sports complex following execution of the lease. I understand that the club and the VEC have held a number of meetings to discuss...

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (29 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I can inform the Deputy that all primary and post primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through my Department's National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA) which is administered and paid for by NEPS. In common with many other psychological services and best international practice,...

Written Answers — Third Level Expenditure: Third Level Expenditure (29 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy has been previously advised, all of the information sought is not readily available in the University sector. The HEA is in contact with the seven universities with a view to obtaining as much information as is possible. This data is being compiled and I would hope to be in a position to forward it to you within the coming week.

Written Answers — Public Private Partnerships: Public Private Partnerships (29 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: One of the stated objectives for the Department's involvement in the Government's Pilot PPP Programme is foster usage of school buildings outside of school hours. The PPP programme endeavours to achieve this in two ways. Firstly, and most importantly, by providing each of the schools with a bank of 350 hours usage outside of the normal school day (8.00 to 18.00 Monday to Friday). This is...