Results 16,801-16,820 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The amount allocated to Bus Éireann, which operates the school transport scheme on behalf of my Department, in the 2004 calendar year was €94.6 million. The expenditure is calculated under several headings including driver costs, running costs, road tax, payments to contractors, wages, insurance, claims and so forth. Receipts from fare paying passengers are also taken into account.

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The total amount paid to Gartner by my Department since 1997 was €152,936.82. The details are as follows: £7,615.49 — equivalent to €9,669.68 — was spent on consultancy advisory service in 1997; £14,238.52 — equivalent to €18,079.19 — was spent on Datapro communications library-research advisory services in 1998; £273.40 — equivalent to €347.15 — was spent on research...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: This company was appointed by the Department in 2002. It was appointed to provide consultancy assistance and advice on the implementation of a new financial management information system. The appointment was as a result of a competitive tender. The tender outlined in detail the tasks to be performed by the successful company, required the tenderer to outline in detail how they proposed to...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The National Council for Special Education — NCSE — has been established as an independent statutory body with responsibilities as set out in the National Council for Special Education (Establishment) Order, 2003. Since 1 January 2005 the NCSE, through local special educational needs organisers, SENOs, is responsible for processing resource applications for children with special...

Written Answers — School Management: School Management (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Procedures for processing complaints by parents and students will be prescribed for all schools under section 28 of the Education Act 1998. Currently, most schools use procedures that have been arrived at through national agreements negotiated between management authorities and teacher unions. Under the CPSMA-INTO and the ASTI-JMB procedures that are in common usage in primary schools and...

Written Answers — School Management: School Management (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The rules of procedure for the nomination and appointment of parent representatives to boards of management of primary schools are set out in the handbook Boards of Management of National Schools: Constitution of Boards of Management and Rules of Procedure. Appendix B of the handbook outlines two methods of election of parent representatives to boards, one of which is a postal ballot. The...

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Bus Éireann, which operates the school transport service on behalf of my Department, plans bus routes in such a way as to ensure that, as far as possible, eligible pupils have a reasonable standard of service while at the same time ensuring that school transport vehicles are fully utilised in an efficient and cost effective manner. The company places special emphasis on safety and, to this...

Written Answers — Third Level Education: Third Level Education (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: As the Deputy is aware, the president of the college in question resigned from that position in April 2005. That matter related to the employee-employer relationship between the head of the college and that person's employers, which, I understand, was subject to legal proceedings. In this regard, it is considered that it is not appropriate for me to make any comment. The institute referred to...

Written Answers — Multi-Denominational Schools: Multi-Denominational Schools (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The objective of the national development plan is to support the development of all educational sectors regardless of ethos. In accordance with the provisions of the Education Act 1998, I, as Minister, am obliged to have regard to the need to reflect the diversity of educational services provided in the State. Applying this provision to the development of multi-denominational education at...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The school planning section of my Department is in receipt of an application for major capital funding from the management authority of the school to which the Deputy refers. The application has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria for large scale projects. Progress on the proposed works is being considered in the context of the school building and...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: My Department is not in receipt of an application for major capital works from the school to which the Deputy refers. I am pleased to inform the Deputy, however, that I approved funding in excess of €271,000 under this year's summer works scheme to enable a window replacement project to be carried out at the school.

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The school planning section of the Department of Education and Science is in receipt of an application for major capital funding from the management authority of the school to which the Deputy refers. The application has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria for large scale projects. Progress on the proposed works is being considered in the context of the...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The school to which the Deputy refers applied for temporary accommodation in 2003 and 2004. While it was not successful at the time, the Department of Education and Science is making significant funding available under the 2006 summer works scheme for small improvement projects. The closing date for the receipt of applications under the 2006 scheme for the provision of additional classroom...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The building project for the school in question is at an advanced stage of architectural planning. Officials from the Department of Education and Science recently examined a stage 3 submission. Approval has been given for the project to advance to stages 4 and 5 of architectural planning. A letter requesting a stage 4 and 5 submission has issued to the school authorities and their design team.

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The mainstream staffing of a primary school is determined by reference to the school's enrolment on 30 September of the previous school year. The number of mainstream posts sanctioned is determined by reference to a staffing schedule and is finalised for a particular year following discussions with the education partners. The staffing schedule is structured to ensure that all primary schools...

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 321 and 322 together. The information in the format requested by the Deputy is not readily available. The Department of Education and Science provides a wide range of grants to primary and post-primary schools. If the Deputy can provide a list of the grants and schools to which he refers, the Department will be happy to assist in providing the details required.

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 323 and 331 together. The school referred to by the Deputy has made an application for capital funding towards the provision of additional classroom and ancillary accommodation. It was necessary, to ensure that the planned capital investment will meet the school's long-term accommodation needs, to review the long-term projected staffing at the school. My...

Written Answers — Radon Gas: Radon Gas (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The position is my Department, in co-operation with the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, RPII, has been funding a radon detection and remediation programme in schools since 1998. The radon reference set for the workplace under the Radiological Protection Act 1991 (Ionising Radiation) Order, 2000, S.I. No. 125 of 2000, is 400 Bq/m3. In schools with levels above 400 Bq/m3 the...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The mainstream staffing of a primary school for a particular school year is determined by reference to the enrolment in the school on 30 September of the previous school year. This is in accordance with guidelines agreed between my Department and the education partners. The guidelines can only be deviated from where a school experiences rapid growth in its enrolment. In such cases, an...

Written Answers — Adult Education: Adult Education (19 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: My Department funds the provision of adult literacy, which is delivered by the vocational education committees, from the adult literacy and community education, ALCES, budget. The national development plan committed €93.5 million to the service in the period 2000-06, with a target of reaching 113,000 clients over that period. This target will be met. The Department's budget for adult...