Results 11,341-11,360 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Disadvantaged Status: Disadvantaged Status (15 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The school to which the Deputy refers is a recognised national school and attracts funding from my Department in the same way as all other recognised national schools. All recognised national schools running costs are met by my Departments scheme of capitation and ancillary grants. Schools will receive capitation funding in January and June, and the ancillary services grant in March. In...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (15 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The purpose of the Remote Area Boarding Grant is to give pupils who are educationally disadvantaged because of their remoteness from schools an opportunity to attend school on the same basis as other pupils not so disadvantaged. Grants are paid for pupils whose normal place of residence is outside the range of public transport services to a school providing suitable free second-level...

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (15 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: An application under my Department's Emergency Works Scheme to upgrade the Fire Alarm and Emergency Lighting Systems has been received from the school referred to by the Deputy following a brief fire safety review carried out by the local authority at the request of the school authority. The purpose of the Emergency Works Scheme is solely for unforeseen emergencies or to provide funding to...

Written Answers — School Patronage: School Patronage (15 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I refer the Deputy to the decision of the previous Government to remove certain funding from Protestant fee-charging schools in the Budget of October 2008. The previous Government also decided at that time make changes to how fee-charging schools should be treated in relation to the number of publicly funded teaching posts they are allowed. Teachers in fee-charging schools are now allocated...

Written Answers — Capital Projects: Capital Projects (15 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The information requested by the Deputy is contained in the following tabular statement. Information on the value of contracts awarded in 2011 is deemed commercially sensitive. To release this information now could influence current tender competitions. Therefore in order to answer the Deputy's question without undermining current tender competitions, the 2011 contract values have been...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (15 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy will be aware, in June of this year I announced that 20 new primary schools and 20 new post-primary schools would be established over the next few years. Of these new schools, two are primary schools to be established in County Meath - both in Ashbourne, and two are post-primary schools to be established in County Meath - one in Ashbourne and one in Navan. The first of the new...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (10 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department understands that the student in question appealed the decision of the grant awarding authority on his student grant application to its appeals officer on 25 October 2011. The grant awarding authority advises that the appeal is currently under consideration and a reply will issue as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Third Level Awards: Third Level Awards (10 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The National Diploma made by DIT Bolton St is a legacy award and is no longer made since the introduction of the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) in 2003, but has been placed at Level 7 of the NFQ. I understand from the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI), which is responsible for the Framework, that the placement of an existing or former award in the framework does...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (10 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 75 and 80 together. The Deputy will be aware the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs) for allocating teaching staff and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to special schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Departments...

Written Answers — OECD Report: OECD Report (10 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Most of the indicators presented in the OECD's annual publication, Education at a Glance are based on detailed information provided through the "UOE" (UNESCO, OECD and Eurostat) data collection. The UOE data collection consists of a series of detailed questionnaires and data tables covering education expenditure, enrolments, entrants, personnel and graduates and is completed by all OECD...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (10 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible for the provision of a range of educational services at local and national level for students with special educational needs. In particular, its network of Special Education Needs Organisers (SENOs) coordinates special needs education provision at local level and arranges for the delivery of...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (10 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy will be aware that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) have been fully engaged in identifying placement options for the child in question. The NCSE has advised my Department that, irrespective of the assessed levels of ability of the child, there are schools placements available for this child. I also understand from my officials that the parents of this child have...

Written Answers — Departmental Properties: Departmental Properties (10 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that I do not have any property leased directly from the private sector in County Westmeath.

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (10 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The particular funding for the schools referred to by the Deputy was withdrawn with effect from 1 January 2009 due to real concerns about the constitutionality of making grants available to fee-charging schools of one ethos and not to those of another. The Constitution specifically states that the State shall not discriminate against one religion in favour of another. There are 26...

Written Answers — Third Level Charges: Third Level Charges (10 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy will be aware, the reality of our economic situation presents significant challenges that have to be reconciled with limitations on public resources. Ireland must adhere to its agreed economic recovery programme in order to reduce the budget deficit to 3% of GDP by 2015 and to restore our independence. This will mean that forthcoming budgets will involve further adjustments in...

Written Answers — School Enrolments: School Enrolments (10 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The selection and enrolment of pupils in schools is the responsibility of the authorities of the individual school. My Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in an area. However, this may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice. As schools may not have a...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (10 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Officials in my Department are liaising with the relevant stakeholders in relation to the appointment of a completion contractor. Subject to no issues arising, it is envisaged that construction will re-commence before the end of this year.

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (10 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy will be aware of this Government's commitment to the protection of frontline services for pupils with special educational needs. 10,575 whole time equivalent (WTE) Special Needs Assistant (SNA) posts are being provided for primary, post-primary and special schools for the coming school year in order to support the care needs of pupils with disabilities. The specific information...

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (10 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The average class size at primary level in the 1997/98 school year was 26.1. The latest available class size data refers to the 2010/11 school year and was 23.9. The source of this data is the Annual Census of Primary Schools. Average class size is not available at post-primary level.

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (10 Nov 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The Statistics Section of my Department's website contains extensive information relating to the number of teaching posts in schools. The figures for the 1996-1997 school year show that there were 44,273 teaching posts in primary and post primary schools. The comparative figure for the 2010-2011 school year is 58,674 teaching posts.