Results 11,701-11,720 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Institutes of Technology: Institutes of Technology (29 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: In February 2006 the Governing Body of Waterford Institute of Technology wrote to my Department seeking a review of its status under Section 9 of the Universities Act 1997. Since this submission was made, the Government has passed significant new legislation in the form of the Institutes of Technology Act 2006. This will now bring our institutes of technology and universities together under a...

Written Answers — School Placement: School Placement (29 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The Deputy will be aware that a specific function of the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is to identify appropriate educational placements for all children with special educational needs. My officials have been advised by the NCSE that no application for placement in the school referred to in the details...

Written Answers — Medical Education: Medical Education (29 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 245 and 246 together. On the 1 February 2006 the Minister for Health and Children and I published the report of the Fottrell Working Group on Undergraduate Medical Education and Training. As part of these reforms I am increasing the annual number of undergraduate places for Irish and EU students from 305 to 485. I am also introducing a separate graduate entry...

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (29 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Information in relation to class sizes is provided in the annual census of primary schools. The reference date for the provision by schools of this information is the 30th September of the school year in question and the date for return by the schools is 31 October. Consequently, the details for the current school year (2006/2007) are not yet available. As the Deputy will be aware, there are...

Written Answers — School Management: School Management (29 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: According to information recently received by my Department, there is currently a fully functioning board of management in existence at the school referred to by the Deputy. With regard to the future of the school, current enrolment at the school stands at three pupils. In March 2005, the patron, chairperson and principal were notified by my Department that recognition would be withdrawn...

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (29 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I understand that the data requested has now been prepared within my Department and will issue to the Deputy in the next few days.

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (29 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 250 and 251 together. New schools operate with provisional recognition from the Department. During the period of provisional recognition, it is the responsibility of the school patron to provide interim accommodation. This accommodation must be capable of fully meeting the needs of the developing school until permanent recognition has been secured and the...

Written Answers — School Insurance: School Insurance (29 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Significant improvements in the levels of direct funding to second level schools have been made in recent years. The funding arrangements made by my Department for second level schools reflect the sectoral division of our second level system. At the core of all arrangements is a reliance upon capitation as the principle determinant of funding. There are however significant differences in the...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (29 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: My recent announcement referred to by the Deputy introduced a range of new measures to improve the capacity of schools to cater for the educational needs of all their pupils and will assist their principals in their work. Some principals have particularly heavy workloads arising from the size of their school. Others carry additional duties arising from the fact that in addition to their...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (29 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The Department is acutely aware of the situation in the school referred to by the Deputy and the need for a permanent solution to its long term accommodation needs. It is in discussion with the Local Authority regarding issues on access to a proposed site. When these issues have been resolved, I will be in a position to provide details on the proposed site.

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (29 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: My Department's support package for the July Education Programme is available to all special schools and mainstream primary schools with special classes catering for children with autism who choose to extend their education services through the month of July. The Department also provides for a July Programme for pupils with a severe/profound general learning disability. The package includes...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 47 and 152 together. In order to ensure that children whose first language is not English can succeed at school, my Department gives additional support to their schools which can take the form of financial assistance, additional teaching posts or portions of teacher posts. The level of extra financial or teaching support provided to any school is determined by...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The latest figures available to my Department show that in the 2005/06 school year the vast majority of schools were offering biology while a large proportion of schools offered the other science subjects. The precise numbers are as follows: 691 schools offered biology, 554 offered physics, 550 offered chemistry, 193 offered Applied Mathematics, and 69 offered the joint Physics & Chemistry...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will be aware, significant improvements have been made in science education at second level in recent years. A revised and much more practically-focused syllabus in Junior Certificate Science was introduced in 2003 and examined for the first time in June 2006, its introduction was supported by €16 million in grants to schools; Revised syllabi in Leaving Certificate Physics,...

Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I should explain for the benefit of the House that traditionally, responsibility for acquiring school sites rested with patron bodies. In 1999 the then Minister took the decision that the Department would purchase sites for new schools where patron bodies were unable or unwilling for whatever reason to do so. However, the option remains for a Patron Body to purchase a school site if it...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 51 and 64 together. The latest information available to my Department on the number of schools offering music relates to the 2005/06 school year. Some 501 second-level schools offered music in junior cycle in 2005/06. Of these, 67 are single sex boys schools, 148 are single-sex girls schools, and 286 are mixed-sex schools. Some 449 second-level schools...

Written Answers — Educational Disadvantage: Educational Disadvantage (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: A key focus of the Government's education policy is to prioritise investment in favour of those most at risk and to optimise access, participation and outcomes at every level of the system for disadvantaged groups. The wide variety of measures in place for tackling educational disadvantage and social exclusion reflect these concerns. These measures range from pre-school interventions,...

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 53, 54, 80 together. All primary and post primary schools have access to psychological assessments either directly through the NEPS or through the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA), full details of which are available on my Department's website. Schools that do not currently have NEPS psychologists assigned to them may avail of the...

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will be aware, there are now no fewer than 4,000 extra primary teachers, compared with 2002. Furthermore, there are nearly 7,000 more primary teachers than there were in 1997. The average class size in our primary schools is now 24. With the unprecedented increases in support staff, there is now one teacher for every 17 primary school children — down from one for 22....

Written Answers — Educational Disadvantage: Educational Disadvantage (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), the new action plan for educational inclusion provides for a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage and a new integrated School Support Programme (SSP). The DEIS plan states that as well as provision being made for schools with a concentrated level of disadvantage, financial support will also continue to be provided...