Results 11,601-11,620 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (18 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The processing of student grants is carried out by local grant awarding authorities, the VECs and local authorities. In the circumstances, the student in question should contact his grant awarding authority to ascertain the position with his application. The Deputy will appreciate that in the absence of all of the details that would be contained in a student grant application form, it would...

Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (18 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: My officials have recently concluded an agreement with SIPTU, the trade unions representing the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of VECS, on a redeployment scheme for CEOs in the context of the Croke Park agreement. This scheme will be used, in the first instance, for determining the appointment of CEOs to the new VEC bodies, following the enactment of the relevant legislation. The agreed...

Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (18 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: In arriving at my decision in relation to the location of headquarters of the merged VECs, I considered a range of factors including the need to ensure that the location of a VEC headquarters will, to the greatest extent possible, facilitate staff redeployment under a redeployment scheme within the context of the Croke Park Agreement and the need to operate at lowest cost having regard to the...

Written Answers — Appointments to State Boards: Appointments to State Boards (18 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Based on current rates as per Department of Finance guidelines, the Chairperson of FÁS is eligible for a payment of €20,520 per annum while eight ordinary members are eligible for payments of €11,970; the Chairperson of the Grangegorman Development Agency is eligible for a payment of €8,978 per annum; the Chairperson of the Higher Education Authority is eligible for a payment of...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (13 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I have no plans to introduce driver education, in the form of driving lessons in schools, and this is not the norm within the EU. Research available internationally is inconclusive on the benefits of teaching young people to drive at school. Particular issues highlighted include the gap arising between the time practical skills are learned initially and put into regular practice, and the...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (13 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: To satisfy the terms and conditions of the student grant scheme in relation to progression, a student must be moving from year to year within a course having successfully completed the previous year or be transferring from one course to another where the award for the subsequent course is of a higher level than the previous course.The objective of this policy is to help as many students as...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (13 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The allocation for student grants in 2011 is just over €386m. This is an increase of some 5% or €19m over the 2010 provision. Preliminary information supplied by the 66 grant awarding authorities indicates that some 72,500 students were in receipt of a grant for the 2010/2011 academic year. A comparable figure for 2011/2012 will not be available until the end of the academic year. The...

Written Answers — Schools Funding: Schools Funding (13 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I refer the Deputy to the decision of the previous Government to increase the pupil/teacher ratio in schools and to remove certain funding from Protestant fee-charging schools in the Budget of October 2008.There are currently 55 fee-charging second level schools in the country, of which 20 are Protestant, two Inter-denominational, one Jewish and the remaining 32 Catholic. It is estimated that...

Written Answers — Appointments to State Boards: Appointments to State Boards (13 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Since my appointment as Minister, the following appointments have been made to the Boards of the Bodies under the aegis of my Department. Mr. Eamonn Devoy, Mr. Tony Donohoe, Professor Anne Scott, Ms. Maria Bourke and Ms. Audrey Deane were all appointed to the Board of the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI) with effect from end March 2011. While the terms of office for these...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (13 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to clarify that the recruitment and deployment of SNAs within schools are matters for the individual Principal/Board of Management. SNAs should be deployed by the school in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the children enrolled in the school for whom SNA support has been allocated. It is a matter for schools to allocate support as required, and on the basis of...

Written Answers — Irish Language: Irish Language (13 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The proposal referred to by the Deputy has been received and a direct response will issue as soon as possible. The 20 year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030 contains a number of actions relating to improving the quality of Irish teaching. A working group has recently been established, under the auspices of the Department of Community, Equality and the Gaeltacht, to scope out and...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (13 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that a technical inspection was carried out by my Department's officials at the school to which he refers in September 2011. The information gathered during the visit is currently being examined to determine the level and configuration of development that the site is capable of hosting. My Department will be in contact with the school authorities as soon as this...

Written Answers — Curaclam Scoile: Curaclam Scoile (13 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Táim díreach tar éis comhairle na Comhairle Náisiúnta Curaclaim agus Measúnachta (CNCM) a fháil faoi leasúchán ar an Teastas Sóisearach. Doiciméad creatlaí é seo agus níl aon mhionsonraí suntasacha ann i dtaobh na sonraíochtaí d'ábhair aonair. Táim tar éis tosú ar chomhairle na Comhairle Náisiúnta Curaclaim agus Measúnachta a bhreithniú agus níl aon chinneadh...

Written Answers — Early Childhood Education: Early Childhood Education (12 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The National School Annual Census collects data on the age of children classified by the year of their birth. Data is not collected on the month of birth and hence the data requested is not available. I believe a breakdown of births by month may be available on the website of the Central Statistics Office at www.cso.ie. While this information may be helpful, I am informed by the officials in...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (12 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to clarify that the recruitment and deployment of SNAs within schools are matters for the individual Principal/Board of Management. SNAs should be deployed by the school in a manner which best meets the care support requirements of the children enrolled in the school for whom SNA support has been allocated. It is a matter for schools to allocate support as required, and on the basis of...

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (12 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The provision of street lighting is a matter for the relevant local authority, and the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, under the Roads Act, 1993.

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (12 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy will be aware, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is an independent agency with responsibility for determining the appropriate staffing levels in relation to the support of pupils with special educational needs in mainstream and special schools. The NCSE operates within my Department's policy in allocating this support. As the Deputy Principal at the school...

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (12 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Correspondence issued to the management bodies in the primary sector (Catholic Primary School Managers Association, Church of Ireland Board of Education, Educate Together and Foras Pátrúnachta na Scoileanna Lán-Gaeilge Teo) on the 20 June 2011 regarding the Minor Works Grant 2011/2012 in addition to the notice on the On Line Claim System. The notice on the On Line Claim System reads:...

Written Answers — School Statistics: School Statistics (12 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The information requested on the number of primary pupils by county is provided by the National School Annual Census and is available on the Department's website, in table 2.18 of the Department's Annual Statistical Report at http://www.education.ie/servlet/blobservlet/stats_statistica l_report_2010_2011.xls. Alternatively the data can be access through the Department's Education Statistics...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (12 Oct 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I regret that the economic circumstances of the country are such that I am not in a position to reverse or alter any of the changes to the student grant measures announced in Budget 2011 by the previous Fianna Fáil - Green Party Government. These changes included an increase in the qualifying distance criterion for the non-adjacent rate of grant from 24 kilometres to 45 kilometres. The...