Results 12,281-12,300 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — Schools Services Staff: Schools Services Staff (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to inform the Deputy that there will be more SNA posts this year than there were last year. There is therefore no estimated budget saving. 10,575 whole time equivalent (WTE) posts are being provided for SNA support for the coming school year. This is a significant number of posts and unlike other areas of the public sector vacancies are being filled up to this number. It is...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The allocation to date for New Kildare Town Community School is 46 teaching posts. This includes a concession of 2.50 posts in relation to the amalgamation and 3 posts under projected enrolment for the 2011/12 school year. The 3 posts for projected enrolment are provisionally allocated and are subject to the school confirming enrolment numbers to the Department in early September. There are...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to inform the Deputy that 10,575 whole time equivalent (WTE) posts are being provided for SNA support for the coming school year. This is a significant number of posts and unlike other areas of the public sector vacancies are being filled up to this number. It is considered that with equitable and careful management and distribution of these resources that there should be sufficient...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The building project to deliver a new 24 classroom building for the school referred to by the Deputy is currently at architectural planning stage. The Board of Management was informed last week that the project may proceed to stage 2b, to secure planning permission, fire certificate and disability access certificate. When the relevant statutory approvals have been obtained and stage 2b...

Written Answers — Preschool Services: Preschool Services (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy may be aware, the vast majority of support for childcare, including pre-school education, is not provided by my Department, but is provided by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. The principle vehicle for delivery of pre-school education is the free Pre-School Year in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme which was introduced in January 2010 and provides...

Written Answers — Vocational Education Committees: Vocational Education Committees (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Teacher allocations to VEC schemes are approved annually by my Department in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment. In accordance with existing arrangements, where a school management authority is unable to meet its curricular commitments within its approved allocation, my Department considers applications for additional short term support i.e. curricular...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: €60 million has been allocated in 2011 to meet commitments arising from earlier years and to fund approvals in 2011 under my Department's Additional Accommodation Scheme.

Written Answers — School Services Staff: School Services Staff (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The rules and regulations governing the submission of redundancy claims are set down by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. The Department of Education and Skills has no discretion to alter the terms of the scheme.

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The Forward Planning Section of my Department has examined all areas of the country to determine where additional provision will be required at both primary and post-primary level up to 2017. This detailed analysis is now being finalised and action plans are being drawn up for each priority location in order to identify how to meet the additional school accommodation. It is within this...

Written Answers — Special Educaitonal Needs: Special Educaitonal Needs (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to inform the Deputy that 10,575 whole time equivalent (WTE) posts are being provided for SNA support for the coming school year. This is a significant number of posts and unlike other areas of the public sector vacancies are being filled up to this number. It is considered that with equitable and careful management and distribution of these resources that there should be sufficient...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: It would appear that the Deputy is referring to the arrangements that are applying for 2011/12 to Language Support Teachers in schools. A phased reduction in the number of Language Support Teachers was one of a number of measures introduced in Budget 2011 in order to contain the cost of the public sector wage bill. However, due to increased pressure on teacher numbers, it has proved...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 122, 124, 125 and 127 together. Based on my Department's most recent statistics, 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. My Department is...

Written Answers — Educational Policy: Educational Policy (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The process of allocating teaching resources to schools for 2011/2012 takes place in the context of the EU/IMF Programme of Support for Ireland and the Public Service Agreement 2010/2014. It is necessary for my Department to exercise additional control and reporting measures this year to ensure that the numbers of teachers employed in schools is consistent with the EU/IMF Programme of Support...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I can confirm that the school to which the Deputy refers has applied to my Department for funding to provide ancillary accommodation and for refurbishment works. Additional information was sought from the school authority in relation to the application. This information has now been received and the application is currently being assessed. A decision will be conveyed to the school authority...

Written Answers — School Inspections: School Inspections (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Responsibility for the implementation of recommendations arising from inspection reports rests primarily with the board of management and the principal and staff of the school. Following the in-school evaluation phase of a whole-school evaluation, the evaluation team meets with the board of management, principal and staff of the school to discuss the findings and recommendations of the WSE. A...

Written Answers — School Inspections: School Inspections (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: In accordance with the provisions of the Education Act 1998, the Board of Management is the body charged with the direct governance of a school. The Education Act sets out the obligations of a recognised school including the requirement to make appropriate educational provision for its students and to ensure that the education provided meets curriculum requirements. The act also requires each...

Written Answers — Language Support Provision: Language Support Provision (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Significant support is given to schools by way of language support provision. The level of extra teaching support provided in respect of language support to any school is determined by the numbers of eligible pupils enrolled and the associated assessed levels of those pupils' language proficiency. This is done through an annual application process in the Spring/Summer of each year. The...

Higher Education Grants (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The economic circumstances of the country are such that the decision by the previous Government to introduce a new student contribution charge of €2,000 from this September cannot be reversed. The programme for Government commits the Government to implementing the decisions of the 2011 budget, which was passed by the last Dáil. The new student contribution will replace the previous...

Higher Education Grants (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The decision to increase the student contribution from €1,500 to €2,000 was made in December 2010. The election took place in February and the programme for Government adopted in full - because the incoming Government had no other option - the entire array of economic decisions contained in that budget of 2011. This included the increase by one third of the student service charge as it...

Higher Education Grants (7 Jul 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy from Dublin South-West is articulating what the loss of economic sovereignty means. This is the point this country has reached and this is what the loss of control over our own cheque book actually means. The Government is constrained in these circumstances. I am determined to return to a point at which the Government has the economic freedom to make freely-determined decisions...