Results 12,301-12,320 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn
- Special Educational Needs (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 19 and 29 together. The Deputies will be aware that a number of sections of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs, EPSEN, Act have been commenced. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, made recommendations which suggested additional investment over a period of years of up to â¬235 million per annum across the education and...
- Special Educational Needs (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I share the Deputy's concern and those expressed by a wide number of Deputies across the House. The advice to me in the Department is that there would be difficulties if we tried to introduce the legislation on an age-cohort basis. I intend to review the spirit of the legislation in these difficult times to see what provisions can be implemented, perhaps by different means. I am not...
- Special Educational Needs (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I understand the Deputy's point and heard him use the phrase "rights-based". One could exercise these rights if this was a sovereign republic in control of its own economy. There is only one crowd in the world who will lend us money at present and that is the European Central Bank.
- Special Educational Needs (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: It is the European Central Bank or the money-lenders. The House needs to understand the reality of where we are. We have lost our economic sovereignty. We cannot deliver on a rights-based approach because we do not have the money to do it. The money we would attempt to offer would be provided by the European Central Bank. The IMF is in this city. When Deputy Boyd Barrett was outside the...
- Special Educational Needs (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I will not get into the blame game because everybody knows how we got here. The debate has to be informed by reality. I support what Deputy Crowe is looking for and we may be able to look at it when we have regained our sovereignty but not before.
- Special Educational Needs (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: The reality, sad and all as it may be, is that we have to reduce current expenditure in the education sector in the forthcoming fiscal year. The thrust of my reply is that if we were to attempt to implement in full the balance of what is required under the EPSEN Act - instead of reducing expenditure by a certain amount, which will be tough when the issue is debated before Christmas - we...
- Special Educational Needs (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: That is a very fair request. We will explore ways by which we can implement the EPSEN Act.
- Voluntary Contributions (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: It is not my Department's policy to prohibit the practice of schools seeking contributions from parents as long as it is made absolutely clear that the contributions concerned are voluntary. The manner in which contributions are sought and collected is a matter for school management. However, their collection should be such as not to create a situation where either parents or pupils could...
- Voluntary Contributions (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I thank the Deputy for raising these matters in a supplementary question. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the National Parents Council and others have raised two issues with me. One is the frequent change of books on the curriculum and so-called revised editions where the amount of revision is minimal. I met the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the National Parents Council and...
- Voluntary Contributions (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I will respond first to what Deputy Boyd Barrett said. Within the primary school structure there are parents' representatives on the boards of management. Therefore, if any parents feel they have been unduly pressurised, I suggest their first port of call should be to the parents' representative. In the post-primary sector, depending on the school, parental representation is not as...
- School IT Systems (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: Each school is responsible for the development, management and maintenance of its IT systems and there is no requirement to notify difficulties to my Department. The Department recognises the need for the provision of technical support to schools but funding is not available due to the overall resource constraints being faced at this time. To help schools upgrade their ICT Infrastructure, my...
- School IT Systems (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: That is a very helpful suggestion which I will explore.
- School IT Systems (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: That suggestion is very much in the spirit of the reforms for the VEC sector that we have in mind.
- School IT Systems (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I note what the Deputy has said.
- School Enrolments (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: We had envisaged that there would be increases of more than 45,000 primary school pupils and 24,900 post-primary pupils, excluding post-leaving certificate students, between now and 2018. The 2011 census did not change that. We have to provide new schools and extensions to existing schools as well as additional teachers to cater for the increased number of pupils. Detailed analysis is...
- School Enrolments (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I am satisfied that it will do so. I am not sure if the Deputies opposite have had an opportunity to examine the new geographical information storage system which tracks the locations where child benefit, for example, is paid. I will raise it at the relevant committee of the House to ensure the system is available to every Member. Deputy Wallace might be interested in it. We now know the...
- School Enrolments (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: I will have that arranged.
- School Enrolments (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: Two separate issues arise from the Deputy's question. Parents in built-up areas might prefer to send their child to a gaelscoil or an Educate Together school but cannot do so. They might prefer the local Church of Ireland school, but it might be full because its numbers have grown and it is obliged to give priority to members of the Church of Ireland community. Such parents might end up...
- Schools Building Projects (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: Each main contractor that is engaged in a major school building project is required to produce a performance bond before it commences works. The bond provides security for the State if the contractor becomes insolvent and is no longer in a position to complete a contract. If such a scenario arises before the building is completed, a completion contractor can be appointed to complete the...
- Schools Building Projects (7 Jul 2011)
Ruairi Quinn: A number of contractors that were undertaking schools building projects have gone into receivership. They are in suspended animation, in effect, because they are not performing. The sites in question will have to be taken back. The contractual procedures in the building industry can be quite elaborate. If the Deputy wishes to inquire about specific projects, I invite him to table a...