Results 1,581-1,600 of 3,797 for speaker:Ciarán Cannon

Seanad: Reform of Further Education and Training: Statements (Resumed) (5 Mar 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: I agree with Senator Bradford that one size does not fit all and flexibility is key. He is correct that the strong tradition of apprenticeship delivery, which dates back over decades, must be expanded to other areas. Senators Healy Eames and O'Donnell raised the same issue, namely, how to improve the status of further education and training and the apprenticeship model among learners and...

Seanad: Reform of Further Education and Training: Statements (Resumed) (5 Mar 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: I thank Members for engaging so passionately on an issue they find exceptionally interesting. The reform of further education and training deserves the focus it is getting, having been conferred with a status under the SOLAS legislation. I thank Senator Power for her kind words on my attendance at the St. Pat's For All Parade. I congratulate her, Senator Bacik, and Deputies Buttimer and...

Seanad: Reform of Further Education and Training: Statements (5 Mar 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: I am very pleased to have the opportunity to address the House on the major structural reform and policy changes under way in our further education and training sector and to set out the proposed changes to our overall apprenticeship model. The further education and training sector is undergoing major structural change and its reform is an integral part of the Government's overarching public...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Provision (5 Mar 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: The report in question was compiled in the context of a confidentiality agreement between the authors and Bus Éireann. The publication of a redacted version of the report is currently the subject of discussions between my Department and Bus Éireann.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Administration (5 Mar 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: I assume that the Deputy is referring to material sent to my Department and subsequently referred to Bus Éireann for investigation. The material, which was not an affidavit, made allegations in relation to individual employees of Bus Éireann. Bus Éireann, as employer, investigated these allegations in accordance with its procedures and could find no basis for...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Eligibility (4 Mar 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: I propose to take Questions Nos. 62 and 63 together. Changes to the Post Primary School Transport Scheme mean that from the 2012/13 school year, eligibility for all children newly entering a post primary school is determined by reference to the distance they reside from their nearest Post-Primary Education Centre having regard, as heretofore, to ethos and language. In general, existing...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Provision (4 Mar 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: The purpose of the School Transport Scheme for Children with Special Educational Needs arising from a diagnosed disability is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of these children. The family of the child in question were in receipt of a grant towards the cost of making private transport arrangements. However, my Department has reviewed this...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Adult Education (4 Mar 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: Adult Education, including language courses, are provided by a range of public and private providers. The Department does not collect data on the numbers of adults that undertake language courses at night.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Fees (4 Mar 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: I refer to my previous reply to the Deputy regarding this issue. No cost benefit analysis has been undertaken in relation to a monthly payment system for school transport. The scale of the School Transport Scheme, transporting some 114,000 children every school day on some 6,000 school transport routes utilising some 4,000 vehicles every school day makes it the largest public transport...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Administration (27 Feb 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: I am not aware of the investigations referred to by the Deputy. In relation to the European Commission, I am aware that the Commission commenced an investigation with regard to State aid to Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus in 2007. The State's response was coordinated by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and my Department supplied any information required by the Commission. A...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Provision (27 Feb 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: The reference used by the Deputy in his question is selective within a much more detailed statement on the role of Bus Éireann in the provision of school transport. As I stated at that time, I was referring to instances in which private operators that had identified profitable routes had their buses followed around the city by Bus Éireann buses in an attempt to stymie the success...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Administration (26 Feb 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: I propose to take Questions Nos. 68 and 69 together. The Deputy's question relates to an investigation initiated by the European Commission on the subject of State Aid to Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus. The State's response was coordinated by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and my Department supplied any information to that Department as required by the Commission. A...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Eligibility (26 Feb 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: Changes to the Post Primary School Transport Scheme mean that from the 2012/13 school year, eligibility for all children newly entering a post primary school is determined by reference to the distance they reside from their nearest Post-Primary Education Centre having regard, as heretofore, to ethos and language. In general, existing eligible and catchment boundary children including those...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Traveller Community (26 Feb 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: I propose to take Questions Nos. 78 and 79 together. The payment of an additional training allowance of €20 per week for the long term unemployed was introduced during a period of high employment levels as an incentive for the long term unemployed to participate in FÁS (now SOLAS), Youthreach and VTOS training and education courses. In the present economic situation this...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: SOLAS Training and Education Programmes Data (26 Feb 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: This is an operational matter for SOLAS. SOLAS have been requested to provide the information directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (25 Feb 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: The Annual Student Contribution is levied on apprentices and students attending Institutes of Technology. This contribution has been levied by Institutes of Technology in respect of apprentices since 2004, with FÁS/SOLAS paying 70% of the contribution and apprentices themselves paying the remainder. As part of Budget 2014, SOLAS will cease making this payment to the Institutes of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (25 Feb 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: An application for funding to rent temporary school accommodation, for the 2012/13 school year, was submitted by the school in question on the 26th June 2012. My Department sanctioned funding for this request on 3rd July 2012. At that time the school also advised that they had been allocated an additional mainstream teacher for the 2012/13 school year which would have facilitated an...

Topical Issue Debate: School Textbooks Rental Scheme (19 Feb 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: I thank Deputy Hannigan for raising this issue and I welcome the opportunity to clarify the position. The Minister, Deputy Quinn, and I are very conscious that the cost of textbooks is a considerable burden on families. We believe that participation in book rental schemes offers the best opportunity to reduce that burden. Schools which already have rental schemes can save parents up to 80%...

Topical Issue Debate: School Textbooks Rental Scheme (19 Feb 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: Yes, it is unfair, absolutely, but equally, the status quo was deeply unfair on the many parents who had no access whatsoever to book rental schemes and who needed support to establish them. That is what this measure sets out to do.

Topical Issue Debate: School Textbooks Rental Scheme (19 Feb 2014)

Ciarán Cannon: Perhaps unusually I am very aware of this issue because I have discussed it at length with the Minister, Deputy Quinn. Recently in the Dáil the Minister and I answered several questions on the operation of the scheme and we both pointed out that it was unfair but, in the context of the resources available to us, it is the most that can be done now. If more resources were available to...