Results 12,601-12,620 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (15 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to inform the Deputy that there has been no overall reduction in the number of Special Needs Assistants in our education system. The Deputy will be aware that it is necessary to ensure that educational services are delivered within the resources available due to the current fiscal position. I intend to prioritise and support special educational services. However, I cannot re-visit the...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (15 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Details of the costs associated with the issuing of payslips to Primary, Post-Primary and Retired Teachers by my Department for 2010 and to date in 2011 are laid out in tabular format in the attached document. Consideration was given by officials in my Department in 2010, to making payslips available electronically to serving and retired school employees on the Department's payrolls, using...

Written Answers — Departmental Correspondence: Departmental Correspondence (15 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy is aware that I have undertaken to meet book publishers and parents' representatives to discuss the cost of school books and to explore any role that my Department can play in alleviating pressure on parents from the high cost of school books and the frequency of new editions. I intend to arrange this at the earliest opportunity. In the meantime, I continue to urge schools to use...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (15 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I can confirm to the Deputy that the permanent school buildings on the site to which he refers were funded through a combination of capital grant aid from my Department and a loan raised by the VEC. The loan was raised by the VEC on foot of a contract for the sale of an existing school building. I understand that the contractual arrangement between the VEC and the purchaser provide for the...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (15 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I wish to inform the Deputy that there has been no overall reduction in the number of Special Needs Assistants in our education system. The Deputy will be aware that it is necessary to ensure that educational services are delivered within the resources available due to the current fiscal position. I intend to prioritise and support special educational services. However, I cannot re-visit...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (15 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department has reached agreement, in principle, in relation to the proposed acquisition of a site for a permanent building for the school referred to by the Deputy. Liaison with the Local Authority on the matter is ongoing and an outline planning application is currently being prepared and will be lodged in the coming months. Due to the commercial sensitivities relating to site...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (15 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy will probably be aware that, currently, there are four student grant schemes administered by 66 grant awarding bodies (local authorities and VECs) on my Department's behalf. However, earlier this year, the Student Support Act became law. This enables the consolidation of the four existing schemes into a single unified scheme. As a consequence, a fundamental review of the schemes...

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (15 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: As an intermediary company, POBAL manage programmes on behalf of a number of Government Departments including the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Justice and Equality. The only area where my Department is working with POBAL is on a philanthropic project. There...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (15 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The rate of entry for Higher Level Maths in the Leaving Certificate 2011 is 0.05% lower than that pertaining in 2010. While the overall trend is downwards, too much significance cannot be read into a change of this order. Normally, around 20% of students who apply to sit Mathematics at Higher Level in the Leaving Certificate actually sit the examination at a lower level. A major programme...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (9 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I regret that the economic circumstances of the country are such that I am not in a position to reverse or vary any of the changes to the student grant measures announced in Budget 2011 by the previous Fianna Fáil - Green Party Government. I am very conscious of the fundamental role played by the student grant schemes in supporting families who are putting their children through further and...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (9 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department is aware of the position with the website in question. It has been in contact with the HEA in relation to this. While some updates have been carried to reflect the changes introduced under Budget 2011 by the previous Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government, work on updating it fully for the 2011/12 academic year is on-going. This will be completed when the student grant scheme...

Written Answers — Languages Programme: Languages Programme (9 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: As the Deputy may be aware, Gaelcholáiste Reachrann, Donaghmede, Dublin 13 currently provides all-Irish second level education for children in the areas concerned. The Forward Planning Section of my Department is analysing all areas of the country in order to determine the level of additional school provision which will be required at both primary and post-primary levels up to 2017. Overall...

Written Answers — Physical Education Facilities: Physical Education Facilities (9 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The sports complexes attached to a small number of community and comprehensive schools, including that referred to by the Deputy, were established in the early 1970s on the basis that they would operate on a self-financing basis. In recent times, the complex at Tallaght Community School has experienced some difficulty in matching its operating costs and its income. Accordingly, the Board of...

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (9 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department has no record of an application for assistance from the school referred to by the Deputy. Should an application be received it will be assessed and the school authorities will be notified of the outcome. The application form, concerned, can be downloaded from my Departments website on www.education.ie.

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (9 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The Deputy will be aware that it is necessary to ensure that educational services are delivered within the resources available due to the current fiscal position. I intend to prioritise and support special educational services. However, I cannot re-visit the previous Government's decision to place a cap on the number of posts available under the Special Needs Assistant (SNA) scheme. This...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (9 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The decision on eligibility for a student grant is a matter for a student's grant awarding body. The Deputy will appreciate that, in the absence of the all of the relevant details contained in an application form, it is not possible for me to say what rate of grant a student qualifies for or, indeed, if he/she qualifies for a grant at all. However, to qualify for the special rate of grant...

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (9 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: My Department does not allocate or fund teachers in private fee charging schools at primary level. At post-primary level the pupil-teacher ratio is one teacher for every 20 pupils for fee charging schools. Each one point increase in the staffing ratio for post-primary fee charging schools is estimated to lead to annual savings of the order of €3.5m.

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (9 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: The building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning. In January 2011 my Department authorised this project to complete Stage 2(b) - Detailed Design. Subsequently, a request for additional fees was received from the design team. The initial fee was considered excessive by my Department and a revised fee proposal was sought....

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (9 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: Over half of the Gaelscoileanna are under Catholic patronage and the redeployment of surplus teachers from these schools is through the relevant diocesan panels. Under the existing redeployment arrangements a board of management has the right to interview, once there is more than one teacher on a panel. My Department had discussions recently with An Foras Pátrúnachta in relation to its...

Written Answers — Teacher Training: Teacher Training (9 Jun 2011)

Ruairi Quinn: I have no plans to establish a teacher training college run through Irish. The 20 year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-30 includes a number of actions relating to teacher education which will be progressed by my Department as resources allow.