Results 12,701-12,720 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (5 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The data requested by the Deputy are contained in the following table. As the Deputy will be aware, major improvements have been made in staffing at primary and post-primary level in recent years. At the beginning of the current school year there are no less than 4000 extra teachers in our primary schools, compared with 2002. The average class size in our primary schools is 24 and there is...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (5 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The vast majority of schools in the State are privately owned and managed. Therefore, the information requested by the Deputy is not available in the Department.

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (5 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The three Third Level Student Support Schemes, administered by the Local Authorities and the Vocational Education Committees on behalf of my Department, offer financial assistance to eligible students attending approved third level courses. Students entering approved courses for the first time are, generally speaking eligible for grants where they satisfy the relevant conditions as to age,...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (5 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The home tuition scheme provides funding to parents to provide education at home for children who, for a number of reasons such as chronic illness, are unable to attend school. The scheme was extended in recent years to facilitate tuition for children awaiting a suitable educational placement including preschool children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) who are eligible, subject to...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (5 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will be aware, it is the Department's intention to permanently accommodate the school to which he refers in a building which it expects to be vacated post an amalgamation of three other primary schools. To progress this matter, the next step is to carry out a technical inspection of the buildings concerned to determine the scope of works to facilitate both the amalgamation and...

Written Answers — School Supervision: School Supervision (5 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Under the provisions of the Education Act 1998 and the regulations of the Department of Education and Science, the board of management is the body charged with the direct governance of a school. The overall responsibility for the day to day management of school supervision rests with the Principal Teacher. The terms of Circular 16/73, which issued to all primary schools, provide that the...

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (5 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The latest report by the Decentralisation Implementation Group (DIG) published yesterday gives an indicative date of Quarter 1 2009 for the provision of permanent accommodation in Mullingar. The decentralisation of the 300 posts in my Department from Dublin to Mullingar as set out in the Government's Programme of Decentralisation with take place when this accommodation is ready for...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (5 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The school in question was offered and accepted a devolved grant in 2005 to provide an additional permanent classroom. The grant on offer was subsequently increased, at the request of the school authority, to include the provision of a resource room. In June 2006 additional funding was approved to cover unforeseen additional building costs. The school has made a further appeal for more...

Written Answers — Psychological Service: Psychological Service (5 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Psychologists in my Department's National Educational Psychological Service are employed as educational psychologists without differentiation in that service. Psychologists in NEPS have a variety of professional experiences and hold qualifications in relevant areas of expertise. All psychologists in the service satisfied the criteria laid down by the Public Appointments Service in the...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (5 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Earlier this year, I announced new Support Teams to work directly with schools experiencing serious behaviour problems in post-primary schools. I announced the plan following the publication of the final report of the Task Force on Student Behaviour in Second Level Schools — School Matters. A new package of measures announced includes: A New regionally-based National Behaviour Support...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (5 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) are recruited specifically to assist in the care of pupils with special educational needs in an educational context. They may be appointed to a special school or a mainstream school in situations where a pupil has a significant medical need for such assistance, a significant impairment of physical or sensory function or where their behaviour is such that they...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (5 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I understand that the Deputy's question refers to training in the delivery of resource teaching support. I wish to advise the Deputy that the role of the special needs assistant (SNA) is essentially a care one in supporting pupils with assessed special educational needs. Resource teaching support is delivered by the school's teaching staff. Accordingly, my Department has no plans to...

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (4 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The information requested is not available in my Department in the format requested by the Deputy. As the Deputy will be aware, major improvements have been made in staffing at primary in recent years. At the beginning of the current school year there are no less than 4000 extra teachers in our primary schools, compared with 2002. The average class size in our primary schools is 24 and...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (4 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: My Department has been actively pursuing a suitable site to facilitate the construction of a permanent building for the school referred to by the Deputy. My Department is considering two site options with the intention of identifying the most suitable site to facilitate the development of a new school building.

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (4 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will be aware the Department has taken over from the Patron with regard to acquiring the necessary permanent site for the Junior School with a view to concluding the acquisition as quickly as possible to move the delivery of the permanent structure forward. It would be the Department's intention to relocate the Junior School to temporary accommodation on the new site for 2007.

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (4 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The letters referred to by the Deputy were given to me in the form of a petition by the INTO and did not call for an individual response. However, in response to the petition, I issued a statement pointing out the position with regard to staffing in our primary schools. As the Deputy will be aware, major improvements have been made in staffing at primary and post-primary level in recent...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (4 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: This Government has shown a clear determination to dramatically improve the financial support available to those students who need it most. We introduced a Top Up Grant, which currently benefits over 12,000 students this year. The higher, non-adjacent special rate of maintenance is based on the maximum personal rate of Social Welfare Unemployment Assistance. This year the top up grant was...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (4 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The assessment of means under my Department's Third Level Student Maintenance Grant Schemes is based on gross income from all sources, with specified social welfare and health service executive payments being excluded from the calculation. The following Social Welfare and Health Service Executive Payments are excluded in the calculation of reckonable income:— Child Benefit Family Income...

Written Answers — Third Level Education: Third Level Education (3 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The position is that the universities are autonomous institutions and my Department does not have any function in their day to day operational affairs. The universities receive a block grant from the Higher Education Authority and it is a matter for each institution to determine how it is allocated internally.

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (3 Oct 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I can confirm to the Deputy that the School Planning Section of the Department is in receipt of an application to establish the school in question. This is currently being assessed and School Planning Section will be meeting with the proposers shortly to discuss the matter.