Results 11,901-11,920 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Science Strategy: Science Strategy (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: In June 2006 the Government launched the Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation. This Strategy is a multi-annual, multi-billion euro investment in research and development activity for the period to 2013. The Strategy will see Ireland secure its position as one of the world's advanced knowledge economies and become renowned worldwide for the excellence of its research. It will put...

School Meals Programme. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: They did not offer me any. What I thought was a lovely idea was that they insist the girls sit down at properly set tables. They are not allowed to have books, games or anything with them so they must engage in conversation. They are learning basic table manners while at the same time communicating with each other rather than sitting in front of the television or a Game Boy with food on...

Departmental Expenditure. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: My Department approaches the evaluation of its programmes and initiatives in a number of different ways. One of these is the formal Government programme of value for money reviews, formerly called expenditure reviews, in which my Department participates. The objectives of these reviews, which were introduced in 1997, are to analyse Exchequer spending in a systematic manner and to provide a...

Departmental Expenditure. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The best way to answer the question is to give examples of the evaluations that have taken place. Two of these were published during the summer, namely, the review of the supply teacher scheme for primary schools and the review of the small school and permanent accommodation initiative. These reviews covered two very different areas. It is easier to assess something like capital funding...

Schools Building Projects. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The Government is determined to ensure that every child is educated in a suitable and comfortable environment. Since 1997, great advances have been made in transforming school accommodation throughout the country through an investment of €3 billion. This has funded 7,800 individual school projects in the past seven years alone. This year we will spend €500 million on school buildings...

Schools Building Projects. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Some years ago, there was one annual announcement on school buildings, which took place at the beginning of the year, and no further announcements took place with regard to schools progressing. Given the number of different schemes currently in place, there have been perhaps eight different announcements so far this year.

Schools Building Projects. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: No. Under my predecessor, one announcement was made at the beginning of the year.

Schools Building Projects. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: We now keep money rolling constantly through the pipeline. It no longer applies that we must spend all capital funding within a particular year. It is a rolling capital envelope, so we can show that more and more projects are getting into the system. Given that 1,300 schools undertook modernisation projects this year, it is important they would be dealt with under a number of different...

Schools Building Projects. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: There are 4,000 schools in the country, a number of which are in very old buildings which need to be preserved and protected. They too are entitled to the facilities they need. A new school coming on stream only gets permanent recognition after three years. Each school has to prove there is a need for it and that it will have the numbers. It will never be possible to give them permanent...

Schools Building Projects. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: There are obviously difficulties with regard to the school in Limerick to which the Deputy referred. The OPW has been anxiously trying to source a site for it.

Schools Building Projects. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: We have area development plans and strategic development zones, and we have made arrangements with county councils, particularly the county council in Fingal, where we will build 20 new schools in the coming years.

Schools Building Projects. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: We have already made arrangements with Fingal County Council that school sites will be identified.

Schools Building Projects. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: It will then be able to provide us with a site and we will be able to build sporting accommodation and community facilities which can be used by the school and the community. Those are the type of initiatives taking place. Only last week, the Taoiseach turned the sod for a new school in Adamstown where no house has been built yet.

Schools Building Projects. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: It shows that with new initiatives we are moving ahead and making progress.

State Examinations. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will be aware, this Government has shown an unrivalled commitment to ensuring that children and young people with special needs get the extra support they need to reach their full potential at school. We have dramatically expanded investment in special education in recent years and improved access to State examinations for young people with special needs. A range of...

State Examinations. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The figures on the types of accommodation and the numbers availing of them speak for themselves; they show how flexible and responsive the system is for young people with special needs. The leaving certificate, however, is simply a statement of grades attained and subjects examined for all students. A simple annotation at the end of the certificate happens to highlight for individual...

State Examinations. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Approximately 26,000 certificates have been issued with annotations so it would be highly unlikely the ruling would be backdated, although that would be subject to an appeal. Along with looking at the appeal, because I believe it did not take into consideration the range of accommodations and will have far-reaching consequences, I am also asking the State Examinations Commission to look at...

Special Educational Needs. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I have expressed a view on a number of occasions that some second-level schools do not appear to be doing as much as they could to welcome students with special needs. I made a particular point of raising this when I attended the annual conferences of the education partners over the course of the year. It is the general position that a school cannot turn away a child solely because he or...

Special Educational Needs. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The Deputy heard me highlighting this at all of the conferences this year and ensuring schools adopted inclusive enrolment policies, which is the best way to go. Much of the evidence we have is anecdotal because the parents are not being refused but are being referred in a positive way to another school. For that reason they do not make a section 29 appeal. I encourage parents to do that,...

Special Educational Needs. (28 Nov 2006)

Mary Hanafin: It is the case that parents are choosing to send their children to the school with the good name and good record. I have some anecdotal evidence in my area of where some parents are paying to send their child of average or good academic ability to a fee-paying school while choosing to send their child with a learning difficulty to a different but non-fee-paying school. Those are the kind of...