Results 16,981-17,000 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — International Reports: International Reports (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I am aware of the international league table of universities compiled by Shangai Jiva Tong University. I understand this table represents a measurement based on items such as the number of Nobel prize winners, cited researchers and size of institution. While it is useful to benchmark the performance of Irish higher education institutions with international institutions, it is important to...

Written Answers — Student Councils: Student Councils (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Section 27(2) of the Education Act 1998 provides that procedures established and maintained by schools under section 27(1), for the purposes of informing students of the activities of the school, shall facilitate the involvement of students in the operation of the school in association with their parents and teachers. The Education Act also provides that post-primary schools should encourage...

Written Answers — School Curriculum: School Curriculum (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: All recognised primary and post-primary schools are required to offer relationships and sexuality education, RSE. It is an integral part of the social, personal and health education, SPHE, curriculum at primary level and junior cycle post-primary level. In addition, all second level schools are required to have an agreed school policy and a suitable relationships and sexuality education...

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Estimates of the incidence of dyslexia usually range from 1% to 4%, depending on the definition adopted. Precise information on the number of primary school children with dyslexia is not currently available. I wish to advise the Deputy that the provision of resources to address the learning difficulties of children with low levels of achievement in reading has been given a very high priority...

Written Answers — Third Level Fees: Third Level Fees (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I have no plans for extending the free tuition fees schemes to include part-time students. Section 473A, Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for tax relief on tuition fees, at the standard rate in respect of approved courses at approved colleges of higher education including certain approved undergraduate and postgraduate courses in EU and non-EU member states. The maximum level of...

Written Answers — Garda Vetting Procedures: Garda Vetting Procedures (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Ensuring the protection, health and welfare of children is a key concern for the Government, parents, agencies that work with children and society generally and I can assure the Deputy that the Government is determined to do all that we can to keep our children and vulnerable adults safe. My colleague, the Minister with responsibility for children, Deputy Brian Lenihan, announced a doubling...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The Department of Education and Science originally planned to provide an eight classroom school in Wicklow town for the gaelscoil in question. A site to accommodate this was subsequently purchased and the building project was allowed to progress into architectural planning. However, due to changing demographics, enrolments in the school increased to a level where it is now considered that a...

Written Answers — Institutes of Technology: Institutes of Technology (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I am aware of the research carried out for the Association of Higher Education Access and Disability. There is a range of support services for students with a disability in the institute of technology sector. These include dedicated access or disability personnel; learning support services, including needs assessment and support for students with learning difficulties; assistive technology...

Written Answers — Computerisation Programme: Computerisation Programme (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The major focus for the Department of Education and Science is the roll-out of broadband connectivity to all recognised 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 to fund local connectivity at school level. The broadband...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Ensuring the protection, health and welfare of children is a key concern for the Government, parentsand agencies that work with children and society generally. The Government is determined to do all that it can to keep our children and vulnerable adults safe. The Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy Brian Lenihan, has announced a doubling of the number of staff...

Written Answers — Standardised Testing: Standardised Testing (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The introduction of standardised testing on a systematic basis has great potential to improve the quality of teaching and learning in schools. I welcome the advice of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, that all pupils should take standardised tests in literacy and numeracy at the end of first class or the beginning of second class, and at the end of fourth class or the...

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Catchment boundaries have their origins in the establishment of free post-primary education in the late 1960s and were determined following consultation with local educational interests. For planning purposes the country was divided into geographic districts each with several primary schools feeding into a post-primary centre with one or more post-primary schools. The intention was and...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The most recent figures available in the Department of Education and Science refer to the 2004-05 school year, and indicate that, of the 1,357 teachers appointed for the first time as permanent or temporary qualified teachers at primary level, 144 were male. The relatively low levels of men in the primary teaching force, a feature common to all OECD countries, is an issue that is of concern...

Written Answers — Departmental Investigations: Departmental Investigations (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Following allegations of financial impropriety at Marino Institute of Education, I asked the accountancy firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, to examine the use of moneys paid by the Department of Education and Science to the institute. The main findings of the review, published in early August, revealed there has been no misuse of the public moneys paid by the Department of Education and Science to...

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Capital funding is being provided under the school building and modernisation programme 2005-2009 for the refurbishment of science laboratories undertaken as part of an overall refurbishment programme of second level schools, for the upgrading of science facilities exclusively or by provision of new facilities in the case of newly built or extended schools. Additionally, I have provided for...

Written Answers — Student Support Schemes: Student Support Schemes (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Several networks of access and disability personnel already exist in the third level sector, such as the access made accessible network of all third level access officers and the disability advisers working network of disability officers in the sector. The National Office for Equity of Access to Higher Education has highlighted in its action plan of December 2004 the need for enhanced systems...

Written Answers — International Reports: International Reports (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The recent OECD report examines changes in expenditure since the mid-1990s. It shows that public expenditure on education, here, has increased substantially between 1995 and 2002 at all levels even when allowing for inflation. For example the same OECD report shows that total spending increased by 56% here compared to 28% on average across the OECD. Between 1997 and 2005, the overall budget...

Written Answers — School Management: School Management (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Boards of management are recognised under section 14 of the Education Act 1998. They also operate in accordance with the constitution of boards and rules of procedure, issued by the Department of Education and Science to assist boards in the effective governance of schools. In 2002-03, the Department reviewed the process whereby it supported a range of in-service activities, including board...

Written Answers — Science Education: Science Education (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: There were some 39 recommendations in the report of the task force on the physical sciences, with costed proposals totalling €244 million extra, of which €66.3 million would be a recurring annual cost. Progress has been made on 25 of them. The Department of Education and Science continues to progress the recommendations of the task force on the physical sciences as resources permit in...

Written Answers — Research Funding: Research Funding (11 Oct 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I accept as a matter of principle that income generated by higher education institutions from external sources should not be subject to off-setting in the allocation of Exchequer funding. This is in a context where the OECD review of Irish higher education recommended institutions should be incentivised to seek external sources of funding. However, in determining the income which it is...