Results 17,421-17,440 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

School Enrolment. (18 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: Does the Minister not agree that, at present, schools can hide behind their enrolment policies to exclude certain children?

School Enrolment. (18 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Minister can make regulations.

Departmental Costs. (18 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: I know some of my Labour Party colleagues subsequently applied for the information and received it. Although information is available on the departmental website, on this occasion extra material was given out that was not available there. Will the Minister clarify how people are to know what information is available on request?

Departmental Costs. (18 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: The Minister will be busy for the next month.

State Examinations. (18 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: I agree with the Minister on the need for students to develop certain skills. However, a student will not earn 500 points or more in the leaving certificate examinations for them. When will the leaving certificate examinations be reformed to test more complex skills than memory and the ability to pass exams? Such reforms would make grinds schools less attractive to parents.

State Examinations. (18 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: The leaving certificate examinations begin in two and a half weeks. There is an extraordinary amount of stress on young people. Is there any way the Minister can speed up the process he described, whereby the NCCA must make recommendations and agreement must be obtained among all the partners involved? Something must be done about this quickly so that young people need not go through this any...

Written Answers — Health and Safety Regulations: Health and Safety Regulations (13 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: Question 19: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position with regard to her consultation with the social partners on proposals to increase penalties for breaches of the health and safety legislation, especially in view of the ongoing level of death and injury being caused to workers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13827/04]

Written Answers — Health and Safety Regulations: Health and Safety Regulations (13 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: Question 63: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her attention has been drawn to the recent study carried out by the Health and Safety Authority suggesting that safety regulations introduced in 1995 have had no impact on the type of accidents occurring on building sites; the action she intends to take to address this situation; and if she will make a...

Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (13 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: I move amendment No. 129: In page 16, line 3, to delete "request" and substitute "require". Question, "That the word proposed to be deleted stand", put and declared carried.

Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (13 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: I move amendment No. 130: In page 16, lines 5 and 6, to delete "where the principal considers it appropriate to accede to their request". Question, "That the words proposed to be deleted stand", put and declared carried.

Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (13 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: Some children have dual enrolment in both the local national school and in a special school. It is important that there is provision in the Bill for more than one teacher in such cases.

Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (13 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: I move amendment No. 81: In page 11, line 41, after "education" to insert "within one month of the assessment". These amendments are concerned with the timeframe for the provision of services by a health board. I take the point that Government amendment No. 99 addresses most of our concerns but it does not contain a specific timeframe, unlike amendment No. 81, which I would prefer.

Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (13 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: My amendment No. 81 had a one month timeframe. I accept that the one month limit is incorporated, at least in the commencement of the plan, and I accept the Minister's amendment.

Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (13 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: I welcome the Minister's pro-active approach in these areas because we did have considerable debate. Some of the bodies that came before the committee believed emphatically that the pre-school child could benefit from being included in these plans. Research indicates that the earlier the intervention the better, where an educational difficulty is discerned. Many children now attend pre-school...

Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (13 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: Deputy Enright has made the point that it is in the Long Title of the Bill. However, the two Deputies are correct in asserting that we need to ensure best practice is available to children. Matters move so quickly nowadays, that it is important to have this included in the Bill.

Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (13 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: Parents have a constitutional right to choose a school and I want to ensure that this is constitutional. One of our concerns dealt with in amendment No. 114 was to ensure that the parents' constitutional rights are protected. The Minister appears to have ensured that. It is very important that the parents have a major role in this because ultimately they must decide on the appropriate...

Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (13 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: I would like to raise another important issue here because this section covers the designation of schools. I am concerned that schools may try to opt out of being designated by the council. Does the Minister envisage giving the council a role to ensure that all schools are inclusive and do not set up obstacles by not looking for resource teachers, physical access and so on? There is a risk...

Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (13 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: I move amendment No. 120: In page 15, line 28, to delete "children" and substitute "each child". Many of these amendments are on drafting issues. We discussed amendment No. 120 on Committee Stage which deals with the review of the education plan. The Bill states that the review should cover, "the operation of each education plan for children who are attending the school". I suggest that...

Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (13 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: I accept the point about the words "child" and "children". However, I am still concerned at parents not always having their requests acceded to by principals. Section 11(6), to which the Minister referred, makes provision for recourse to the appeals board, but that is a cumbersome procedure. I would like to see parents having a greater right because, essentially, we are talking about cases...

Education for Persons with Disabilities Bill 2003: Report Stage (Resumed). (13 May 2004)

Jan O'Sullivan: I support amendment No. 121. It is important and it links into the point I made about the need to specify the resources required. Deputies Crowe and McGrath propose that it should be specified that the child has received the services required when reviewing the plan. That links in with the issue of ensuring that while we set goals and decide that certain things need to be done, we need to...