Results 13,181-13,200 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (4 Jul 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The Maternity Protection (Amendment) Act, 2004 amended the previous legislation to provide that a person on additional statutory maternity leave is deemed to remain in employment for the period of their absence. Apart from their right to remuneration, superannuation benefits or obligation to make (pension) contributions for the period of this absence, the Act referred to provides that an...

Written Answers — School Discipline: School Discipline (4 Jul 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Section 29 allows parents, and students who have reached the age of 18, the right to appeal certain decisions made by a school's Board of Management. Appeals may be made in respect of a decision to (i) permanently exclude a student (ii) suspend a student from the school for a period which would bring the cumulative period of suspension to 20 school days in any one school year or (iii) refuse...

Written Answers — School Enrolments: School Enrolments (4 Jul 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The information requested by the Deputy is not available in my Department. Enrolment decisions are the responsibility of the Board of Management of each individual school. My Department has no role in relation to processing applications for enrolment by schools. Section 29 of the Education Act 1998, provides parents with an appeal process where a Board of Management of a school or a person...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (4 Jul 2006)

Mary Hanafin: My Department provides a range of supports to second level school management to enable schools to cater for pupils with special educational needs including the needs of pupils with autism. The supports in question include remedial and additional teaching support, special needs assistant support and funding for the purchase of specialised equipment. As the Deputy is aware, there has been...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (4 Jul 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The specific information requested by the Deputy for special need support teachers at primary level is not readily available in my Department. I can confirm however that there are currently 116.4 whole-time equivalent special needs assistants (SNAs) employed in schools in County Laois and a total of 7,241.02 whole-time equivalent SNAs employed nationwide. I can confirm also that at primary...

Written Answers — Third Level Education: Third Level Education (4 Jul 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The information requested by the Deputy is in the following table. The earliest data available are for 1998/99 and the latest available are for 2003/2004. Data for both of these years have been supplied along with those for 2000/2001. Number and Percentage of Full-time Third Level Students by County of normal residence (students normally resident in Ireland before entering Third Level) ...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (4 Jul 2006)

Mary Hanafin: There are approximately 8 children with autism in County Clare, and fewer than 100 nationwide, whose home tuition grant has been discontinued. My Department considers that school-based education provision is the most appropriate intervention for all children including those with special educational needs and has discontinued the practice whereby children who are in full-time education...

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

Mary Hanafin: The assessment of means under my Department's third level student support schemes is based on gross income from all sources of the candidate and his/her parents/guardians, where applicable, with certain social welfare and health board payments being exempt. Clause 13 of the Higher Education Grant Scheme deals with the declaration of income and other information. The clause includes the...

Written Answers — Departmental Strategy Statements: Departmental Strategy Statements (4 Jul 2006)

Mary Hanafin: My Department's Statement of Strategy is available to download on the Department's website at www.education.ie. Design and printing work is being finalised with a view to a printed version being available next month. The Department's annual report for 2005 is being compiled at the moment. This will be published later in the year.

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

Mary Hanafin: The proposed extension project for the school referred to by the Deputy is at an early stage of architectural planning and is one of the 124 schools that I announced in April of 2005 to progress through the architectural planning process. Following an increase in the long-term projected enrolments at the School, my Department's officials visited the School in question in February of this year...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (4 Jul 2006)

Mary Hanafin: My Department provides funding towards the cost of secretarial services in primary schools under two separate schemes. One is the 1978 scheme under which my Department meets the full cost of salary. These secretaries are paid directly through my Department's payroll. The 1978 scheme is being phased out. The new Ancillary Services Grant scheme has superseded the 1978 scheme. The new Ancillary...

Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (4 Jul 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 668 and 669 together. My Department has acknowledged the need for a permanent solution to meet the long term accommodation needs of the school referred to by the Deputy. The school is currently occupying rented accommodation which is being grant aided at the rate of 95% by my Department. Officials are actively looking at proposals regarding an alternative site...

Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (4 Jul 2006)

Mary Hanafin: My Department is in discussions with the owners of the property referred to by the Deputy regarding the possibility of it being retained for educational use. These discussions are ongoing.

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (4 Jul 2006)

Mary Hanafin: There are currently 217.16 whole-time equivalent special needs assistants (SNAs) employed in primary schools in County Clare and a total of 6587.41 whole-time equivalent SNAs employed nationwide. Applications from schools for SNA support for the 2006/2007 school year are now being processed by the National Council for Special Education (NCSE). The SENOs will convey their decisions on the...

Written Answers — Third Level Education: Third Level Education (4 Jul 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The admission of students to the post initial year of courses is a matter for the individual institutions. The person should therefore make their application directly to the institutions concerned.

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

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 673 to 699, inclusive, together. The information requested by the Deputy is provided in the following table. However, because of variation in class size and ages of pupils across standards in certain schools the information for those schools is not available for the 2005/2006 school year and this is also indicated on the attachment. Major improvements in...

Written Answers — Schools Amalgamation: Schools Amalgamation (4 Jul 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 700 and 701 together. As the Deputy will be aware, my Department intends to permanently accommodate the school to which he refers in a building which it expects to be vacated post an amalgamation of three other schools. The Boards of Management of these schools recently sent a proposal to my Department in relation to its requirements to effect the...

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

Mary Hanafin: The school to which the Deputy refers has an application with my Department for large scale capital funding. The application has been assigned a Band 2 rating under the published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects. My Department is carrying out a review of all-Irish educational provision in the area where the school is located to determine an appropriate accommodation...

Written Answers — Third Level Education: Third Level Education (4 Jul 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The following table shows the student intake to each of the courses in question from 2002 to 2005, as applicable. These students will graduate from the relevant courses from 2006 onwards. Source Year Course Title Institution Award Type Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 2003 B.Sc. Occupational Therapy CK Degree 26 0 0 2004 B.Sc. Occupational Therapy CK Degree 30 24 0 ...

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

Mary Hanafin: The most recent information on class sizes in primary schools for County Mayo is for the 2005/2006 school year and is as follows: Classes of 25 to 29 — 4,204 pupils Classes of 30 and above — 1,840 pupils As the Deputy will be aware, major improvements have been made in primary school staffing in recent years. Next September there will no less than 4000 extra teachers in our primary...