Results 15,141-15,160 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Residential Institutions Redress Scheme: Residential Institutions Redress Scheme (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 148 and 157 together. The highest award made to date by the Residential Institutions Redress Board is €300,000 and the lowest award is €0.00. The average award currently amounts to €75,000. According to figures supplied by the board to my Department, the board has finalised 4,955 cases to date. Awards have been made in 4,799 of these cases, of which 322...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Major improvements in school staffing have been made in recent years with the hiring of more than 5,000 additional primary teachers. This represents the largest increase in teacher numbers since the expansion of free education. Today there is one teacher for every 17 children, the lowest pupil teacher ratio in the history of the State. Aside from decreasing average class size, the...

Written Answers — Education Funding: Education Funding (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: My Department does not provide funding for groups such as those referred to by the Deputy. Schools have considerable discretion as to how the funding allocated by my Department should be best utilised in the interests of their students. Should a school accord sufficient priority to a particular extracurricular activity, then the school would be free to engage with the group concerned in this...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2005, also known as the EPSEN Act, was enacted in July 2004. While many sections of the Act have already commenced, the remaining sections relate mainly to the statutory assessment and education plan process for which the Act provides. These cannot come into effect without the National Council for Special Education having an...

Written Answers — School Discipline: School Discipline (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The Deputy will be aware that last year I established a task force on student behaviour in second level schools. This task force produced an interim report in mid-year and has very recently completed its final report as scheduled. I am at present considering the final report and will arrange for its publication shortly. I have indicated my clear intention of acting on this issue in a measured...

Written Answers — Pupil-Teacher Ratio: Pupil-Teacher Ratio (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Major improvements in school staffing have been made in recent years with the hiring of more than 5,000 additional primary teachers. This represents the largest increase in teacher numbers since the expansion of free education. In 1996-97, the average class size in our primary schools was 27. It is now 24. In 1996-97, there was one teacher for every 22 children in our primary schools. Today,...

Written Answers — School Management: School Management (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The rules for national schools were last published in 1965. Amendments, which have been made in the meantime, have been notified to the relevant school authorities by circular letters issued by my Department. My Department has been considering the matter of preparing a revised version of the rules. However, because of other more pressing and urgent work which requires to be undertaken, it has...

Written Answers — Computerisation Programme: Computerisation Programme (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will be aware, my Department is currently engaged in the roll out of broadband Internet connectivity to all recognised primary and post-primary schools. This project is being undertaken in partnership with industry, following the establishment of a three-year €18 million joint Government-IBEC-TIF, Telecommunications and Internet Federation, fund. The broadband connectivity is...

Written Answers — Physical Education Facilities: Physical Education Facilities (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: My Department is committed to funding the provision of physical education, general purpose and outdoor play areas in schools as part of the school building and modernisation programme. This is being addressed in the context of available resources and the published criteria for prioritising school building projects. The provision of physical education halls at post-primary level is considered...

Written Answers — Teacher Training: Teacher Training (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The Higher Education Authority allocates core recurrent grants to the universities and designated institutions as block grants which are allocated internally as between the various academic and other departments at the discretion of the universities and institutions. The average unit cost of an undergraduate physical education student for the year 2005-06 is approximately €9,012 per annum.

Written Answers — Commercial Marketing in Schools: Commercial Marketing in Schools (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will be aware, commercial marketing in schools can take a variety of forms, from educational materials made available to schools by newspapers to companies offering schemes whereby products are given to the school on the basis of tokens collected by parents. It is at the discretion of management in individual schools to decide what commercial initiatives it wants its school to...

Written Answers — School Evaluations: School Evaluations (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will be aware, the regulations and guidelines concerning publication of inspection reports, which I published in late January 2006, provide that inspection reports arising from whole-school evaluation, subject inspections, programme evaluations and thematic inspections commenced on or after 6 February 2006 will be published. All of these inspections evaluate, as appropriate, the...

Written Answers — Disadvantaged Status: Disadvantaged Status (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: A key element of delivering equality of opportunity in schools, DEIS, the new action plan for educational inclusion, is the putting in place of a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage in our primary and second level schools for the purposes of qualifying for resources, both human and financial, according to the degree of disadvantaged experienced. This standardised system...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 263 and 264 together. The school building programme is structured around a number of component elements or sub-programmes. These include large scale building projects, various devolved minor works initiatives, site acquisitions, remediation programmes, provision of temporary accommodation and the small schools initiative. Data within my Department are recorded...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The school referred to by the Deputy has made an application for a new school building. As part of the assessment of this application, officials in the school planning section are carrying out an overall review of all-Irish provision at primary level in the area concerned. This review will take into account current and future demographics, planned housing developments and the likely demand...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: An application for additional accommodation has been received from the school to which the Deputy refers. The application has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria for large scale building projects and progress on the project will be considered in the context of the school building and modernisation programme from 2006 onwards.

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: The building project for the school referred to by the Deputy is at an early stage of architectural planning. The school in question was listed in my announcement of April 2005 as a project to progress through architectural planning up to pre-tender stage, that is, up to and including advanced architectural planning. The school is currently at stage three, developed sketch scheme, of...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: Following the Deputy's previous parliamentary question, information on the course in question and the funding provided to candidates while they are at sea as part of this course was sought. This information has been received and is currently under consideration within my Department. A response will be furnished directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Physical Education Facilities: Physical Education Facilities (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: My Department is committed to funding the provision of physical education, general purpose and outdoor play areas in schools as part of the school building and modernisation programme. This is being addressed in the context of available resources and the published criteria for prioritising school building projects. The provision of PE halls at post-primary level is considered an integral part...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (15 Feb 2006)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy will be aware, the primary curriculum was revised in 1999 and is being implemented on a phased basis. I have no intention of introducing further curriculum change at primary level until the new curriculum is well bedded down. However, I am aware that some second level schools offer sign language courses to their students, particularly as part of the leaving certificate applied...