Results 11,761-11,780 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Leaders' Questions (29 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Did the Deputy write that herself?

Leaders' Questions (29 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Hear, hear.

Written Answers — School Books: School Books (28 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I share the concern expressed by many parents and organisations in relation to the high cost of school textbooks and the frequent rate of revisions made by book publishers. I have adopted a number of approaches to this issue. As the Deputy will be aware, I recently met with educational book publishers, representatives of parents' organisations and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul regarding...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (28 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: An application for redundancy was received by my Department on 21st September 2011 from the Special Needs Assistant referred to by the Deputy. Applications are processed in date order of receipt and every effort is being made to process these applications as quickly as possible. Applications received in December 2010 are currently being processed. The priority of my Department's Payroll...

Written Answers — School Meals Programme: School Meals Programme (28 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Expenditure on the provision of school meals which is primarily funded by the School Meals Programme, administered by my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection was €34.96 million in 2010 with €35 million provided for 2011. The estimated cost of providing a daily lunch meal for 874,759 school going children and young people in primary and post primary schools currently and based on...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (28 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Anecdotal evidence indicates that there is an over supply of teachers and that there are newly qualified teachers not yet holding teaching positions in schools. The full extent of over supply is not yet known. Historically, my Department has endeavoured to manage the supply of trained primary teachers in an effort to achieve some equilibrium between the supply of and the demand for trained...

Written Answers — Property Transfers: Property Transfers (28 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to advise the Deputy that it is my intention to lease the entire former community school site referred to by the Deputy, 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 is given use of the facility following execution of the lease. I understand that the VEC has already presented a draft user...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (28 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Promotional competitions conducted by my Department are governed by the Code of Practice as published by the Commission for Public Service Appointments. In addition to this my Department must comply with the terms of the Employment Equality Act 1998. As such, candidates that apply for promotional competitions are not obliged to state their age or date of birth. During the ten year period...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (28 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy will be aware that my Department's home tuition scheme provides funding to parents to provide education at home for children who, for a number of reasons such as chronic illness, are unable to attend school. The scheme was extended in recent years to facilitate tuition for children awaiting a suitable educational placement and also to provide early educational intervention for...

Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (28 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: In July 2009, the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes recommended that the number of VECs could be reduced from 33 to 22 and aligned with the functional areas of the 22 Local Authorities, also recommended by the Group. In September 2009 the then Minister for Education and Science invited interested parties to make written submission in relation to a reduction...

Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (28 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: In the coming period, I will be designating the headquarter location for the 16 bodies. In doing so, I will be taking a number of factors into account. The VEC headquarters must, as far as possible, be able to facilitate redeployment of staff having regard to the terms of the Croke Park Agreement. Where redeployment of all of the headquarters staff in an entity to one location is not...

Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (28 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Within a matter of weeks I hope to have the approval of the Government for the publication of the General Scheme of an Education and Training Boards Bill. This Bill will consolidate the existing nine Vocational Education Acts and will reflect the enhanced role future role of the Sector. This will be a substantial piece of legislation which will provide for the legal establishment of the...

Written Answers — Departmental Programmes: Departmental Programmes (27 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Springboard is a specific initiative to provide 6,000 part time higher education places for unemployed people who have lost jobs in sectors where employment levels will not return and who will need new qualifications and skills to re-enter employment as the economy recovers. The Springboard courses are in areas of current and future skills needs, as identified by the Expert Group on Future...

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (27 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I assume that the Deputy is referring to an application submitted by the school in question under my Department's Emergency Works Scheme to replace a number of windows in the school. The purpose of the Emergency Works Scheme is solely for unforeseen emergencies or to provide funding to facilitate inclusion and access for special needs pupils. An emergency is deemed to be a situation which...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (27 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Applications for redundancy / partial redundancy for Special Needs Assistants are being received by my Department on an ongoing basis. Applications are processed in date order of receipt and every effort is being made to process these applications as quickly as possible. Applications received in mid-November 2010 are currently being processed. The priority of my Department's Payroll...

Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (27 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The Office of Public Works, working on behalf of my Department, is negotiating with the owners of a suitable site with a view to acquiring same for the school referred to by the Deputy. Given the sensitivities associated with land acquisitions I am not in a position to comment further at this time. The acquisition of the site and the delivery of the school building project will be considered...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (27 Sep 2011)

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 — Telecommunications Services: Telecommunications Services (27 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 138 and 159 together. No application has been received on this matter. Any such request would be considered in light of any future decision to extend the roll out and the availability of resources.

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (27 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The proposed building project for the schools referred to by the Deputy was not included in the school building works programme for 2011 announced earlier this year by my predecessor. Last year, in line with my Departments strategy to reduce the level of expenditure on rental of temporary accommodation, my Department approved the purchase of prefabs at the schools which had previously been...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (27 Sep 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: As advised in my previous answer on 21st July 2011, it is expected that enrolments will increase nationally from a current enrolment at primary level of circa 509,652 pupils to circa 552,800 pupils by 2017 and at post-primary level from a current enrolment of circa 317,432 pupils to circa 342,300 pupils by 2017. It is within this context that I recently announced that up to 40 new schools are...