Results 12,101-12,120 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department's investigations into this matter are ongoing. As soon as these investigations are complete, a response will issue directly to the person.

Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: At the core of the proposed restructuring is the need to address the current low scale and size of operations in particular VECs in order to position the sector for future development. In this regard, the previous Government decided on a reduction to 16 new entities. On entering office, I invited the Irish Vocational Education Association (IVEA) to submit alternative rationalisation...

Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (19 Jul 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 (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: As a general principle I am anxious to ensure that the process of amalgamating Vocational Education Committees is done in a manner that is not disruptive in any way to the provision of existing services and provision by individual VECs. My officials are working on the preparation of new legislation needed to bring the changes about. It is the norm in such legislation to provide for the...

Written Answers — School Libraries: School Libraries (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: In view of the serious financial situation left by the previous Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government, I regret that I do not have the resources to restore the grant to local authorities for the provision of library services to primary schools. The present Government is committed to making literacy a national cause, as evidenced by the publication of the recent National Strategy on Numeracy and...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Firstly, I wish to clarify for the Deputy that Special Needs Assistant (SNA) allocations are not permanent, as the level of SNA support allocated to a school may be increased or decreased as pupils who qualify for SNA support enrol or leave a school. They are also decreased where a child's care needs may have diminished over time. I wish to clarify also that the recruitment and deployment of...

Written Answers — Residential Institutions Redress Scheme: Residential Institutions Redress Scheme (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The details provided by the Deputy relate to the proposed Statutory Fund. As the Deputy is aware, the Government has agreed to the drafting of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Bill to provide for the establishment of a Statutory Fund to support the needs of victims of residential institutional abuse, as endorsed by Dáil Éireann in the aftermath of the publication of the Ryan...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Decisions on which resources to use for the study of history are made by teachers and their students. The focus of the website referred to by the Deputy is genealogy. While this is of general interest, and promotes stimulating investigative opportunities for students and their families, it does not relate directly to the specific aims of the history syllabuses, and its broader coverage of...

Written Answers — Institutes of Technology: Institutes of Technology (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I understand that this issue is currently the subject of an injunction application before the High Court, on which judgement has been reserved. It would therefore be inappropriate for me to comment on the matter at this time.

Written Answers — Home-School Liaison Scheme: Home-School Liaison Scheme (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) is managed by the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB) alongside the School Completion Programme (SCP) and the Education Welfare Service (EWS) as part of the Integration of Education Services Project. The aim and rationale for the Integrated Service is to provide more effective services for children who have difficulties participating in school;...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 179 and 180 together. As the Deputy is aware, pupils with a mild general learning disability, and who do not attend either a special class or special school, receive additional teaching support at primary level through the teaching staff already in place in all primary schools. All primary schools have been allocated learning support/resource teaching support...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I can confirm to the Deputy that the school to which he refers has made an application for capital funding to construct a mainstream classroom and a Resource Room. Officials from my Department have been in direct contact with the school with regard to this application. The school have now forwarded further information to my Department. The application is now currently under consideration and...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I can confirm to the Deputy that the school to which he refers has made an application for capital funding for additional accommodation. The application is currently under consideration and a decision will issue shortly to the Board of Management of the school.

Written Answers — Third Level Charges: Third Level Charges (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I understand this question relates to the introduction of the new Student Contribution Charge. The Programme for Government commits the Government to implementing the decisions of the 2011 Budget which was passed by the last Dáil, including the introduction of a Student Contribution Charge of €2,000 with effect from the academic year 2011/12. As the Deputy may be aware a prerequisite for...

Written Answers — Medical Certificates: Medical Certificates (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Under the sick leave scheme for registered teachers, a medical certificate must state the nature of the illness, be signed by a duly qualified medical practitioner registered with the Irish Medical Council and cover a period of no more than one month. These conditions are contained in Circular Letter 0060/2010 which was issued in October last year. They have been established for some time...

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I can confirm that the school referred to by the Deputy applied for funding under the 2011 Summer Works Scheme. A list of 453 successful schools was announced on 30 March 2011. Applications from schools for gas, mechanical and electrical works were prioritised under the Summer Works Scheme funding this year and I regret that the application made by the school in question was not selected. A...

Written Answers — Skills Development: Skills Development (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Springboard is a specific initiative to provide 6,000 part time higher education places targeted at 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. These part time places were selected following a competitive tender process and are being funded as part of...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The current status of all projects on the school building programme may be viewed on my Department's website at www.education.ie and this will be updated regularly throughout the year. I wish to advise the Deputy that since becoming Minister, I have taken a keen interest in the operation of my Department's School Building and Planning Unit. I have visited the School Building and Planning...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I am pleased to advise the Deputy, that a project to provide a new school building for the school to which he refers, was announced in January 2011 as one of the projects to commence the process of the brief formulation under my Department's 2011 Multi-annual School Building and Modernisation Programme. I can inform the Deputy that a site, which is in the ownership of the HSE, has been...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (19 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I can confirm to the Deputy that the school to which he refers has made an application for capital funding to construct a Resource Room. The application is currently under consideration and a decision will issue shortly to the Board of Management of the school.