Results 17,161-17,180 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Class Sizes: Motion. (26 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: What about the commitments in the programme of Government?

Class Sizes: Motion. (26 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: That is not true.

Class Sizes: Motion. (26 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: We were spending more than that.

Class Sizes: Motion. (26 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: More than 30.

Class Sizes: Motion. (26 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: We have tabled this motion for debate because class size is important. It is important to the many children who leave school unable to read. It is important to the quiet child in a class of 30 who falls behind because the teacher does not notice that she is having problems among the many demands of the 29 others in the room. It is important to the trouble maker who hides his learning...

Class Sizes: Motion. (26 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: I move: That Dáil Éireann: noting, —the educational needs of children are more difficult to meet in large classes; —the Government has reneged on the commitment contained in An Agreed Programme for Government that the average size of classes for children under nine would be brought below the international best-practice guideline of 20:1; —there are more than 100,000 primary pupils and...

School Completion Programme. (26 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: I recently visited a Barnardos project and it was interesting to hear that the children are willing to get up early in the morning where there is a breakfast club whereas prior to its introduction they might not have wanted to go to school. We must urge the Minister to expand that programme as quickly as possible. Regarding the general proposals to tackle educational disadvantage — I...

Leaders' Questions. (26 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: There is a problem in Limerick.

Leaders' Questions. (26 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: I spoke to someone who spent a night on a trolley.

School Staffing. (26 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: Question 52: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to the decreasing number of males entering the teacher profession at all levels; the steps she intends to take to ensure a better gender balance in the teaching profession; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13161/05]

School Staffing. (26 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: I welcome that this report is due shortly. Will the Minister publish it when it becomes available? On the OECD figures, the average is 20% whereas in the figures available here, only 10% of students in teacher training colleges are now male. At second level, only 15% of new ASTI members are male, so I suggest the trend is also progressive at second level. Does the Minister agree that this...

School Staffing. (26 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: In light of boys' performance in the leaving certificate and the Minister's somewhat conservative approach to reforming the curriculum, would the Minister accept that the current method of examining the leaving certificate, which is mainly about memorisation, hinders boys' examination performance and their opportunities to enter teacher training colleges, which have quite high points?

Higher Education Grants. (26 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: Question 55: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will give a breakdown, county by county, of the new awards of higher education grants under socio-economic categories for the 2001-2002 and subsequent academic year; if she is satisfied the allocation of grants is fair and representative of the geographic and socio-economic breakdown of the country; the action she intends to...

Higher Education Grants. (26 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Minister's answer was interesting but did not address my question. I asked about students who received grants for the year 2001-02. Is it a failure of the Minister's Department that the most recent statistics on grants and socio-economic breakdown are for the year 2000-01? These figures have been out since 2004 but there are three subsequent academic years for which we do not have...

Higher Education Grants. (26 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: That is one definition of no agreement. Does the Minister accept the system is unfair to the PAYE sector?

Higher Education Grants. (26 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: Far be it that the widow from Dún Laoghaire should suffer.

Services for People with Disabilities. (21 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: I wish to raise the issue of the need for the Minister for Education and Science to reconsider her decision to disband the advisory committee for the deaf and hard of hearing. A letter dated 9 March was sent to the chairperson of the advisory committee which says: given that the Committee in question has failed to submit a report by the two previous deadlines imposed by my predecessor, I...

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage. (21 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate. The fact we have not debated this until April 2005 is an abysmal indication of the record of the Government in dealing with this issue. We all welcomed the apology by the Taoiseach in 1999, which was given on behalf of the people. It was long overdue to those children who suffered terribly in the care of the State and directly in the care...

Written Answers — Consumer Strategy Group: Consumer Strategy Group (20 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: Question 149: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when he intends to publish the report of the Consumer Strategy Group; if the report has been considered by Government; the main recommendations of the report; if he intends to implement the recommendations of the report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12097/05]

Written Answers — Hospital Accommodation: Hospital Accommodation (20 Apr 2005)

Jan O'Sullivan: Question 168: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the number of step-down beds in each of the Health Service Executive regions that are being funded by her Department in order to alleviate over-crowding in hospitals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12296/05]