Results 17,841-17,860 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (21 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: An application for a new PE hall at the school to which the Deputy refers has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria for largescale building projects, which were revised following consultation with the education partners last year. The project has been assigned a band rating under the criteria and its progress will be considered in the context of the school...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (21 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The staffing of this school for the 2005-06 school year was considered by the appeals board on 14 June 2005. The board, having considered the appeal with regard to the criteria outlined in Department circular 19/02, was satisfied that a departure from the staffing schedule is not warranted in this case. The board of management of the school was notified in writing of the decision of the...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (21 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: An application for an extension has been assessed and will be prioritised using the published prioritisation criteria. The project will provide a general purposes room and ancillary accommodation. The project will be considered in the context of the School Building and Modernisation Programme 2005-2009.

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (21 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: EU Directive 2003/20 requires seat belts to be used where they are fitted. This directive must be transposed into national law by 9 May 2006. The wearing of seat belts and the three for two rule are intrinsically linked, which means that school children who are travelling on buses equipped with seatbelts from next May will be provided with a single seat. Any additional vehicles required to...

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (21 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The Deputy will be aware that EU Directive 2003/20 requires seat belts to be used where they are fitted. This directive must be transposed into national law by 9 May 2006. Separately, proposals to extend the requirement for seat belts to be fitted in all new vehicles, except for city buses used in stage stop routes, have been developed at EU level. When the directive is adopted, all new...

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (21 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: More than 3,000 vehicles are used to transport children each day to school. In the region of 80% of these vehicles are owned by private contractors and the remaining 20% are owned by Bus Éireann. The numbers of buses serving primary schools are 1,317 minibuses, 350 medium buses and 312 large buses. The numbers of buses serving post-primary schools are 405 minibuses, 278 medium buses and 436...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (21 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The pension scheme for staff of the National Educational Welfare Board, NEWB, is at present being operated on an administrative basis pending approval a draft superannuation scheme for the board. The pension arrangements of the staff are in accordance with the model scheme of the Department of Finance. The model scheme, which is a standard public service scheme, needs to be updated to take...

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: All vehicles operating under the school transport scheme are required to meet the statutory regulations as laid down by the Department of Transport. Where vehicles have over eight adult seats and are more than one year old, they are required to pass that Department's annual roadworthiness test. In addition, Bus Éireann vehicles are subject to a routine scheduled maintenance programme to...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The building project at the school has been assessed in accordance with the published prioritisation criteria, which was revised last year following consultation with the education partners. The project will be considered in the context of the school building and modernisation programme 2005-09.

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Special needs assistants are assigned to schools to meet the care needs of individual children who have been assessed by a psychologist as needing this type of support. There has been no change to the criteria or guidelines for allocating special needs assistant support to schools and there are no plans to review the criteria or guidelines under which special needs assistant support is...

Written Answers — Disadvantaged Status: Disadvantaged Status (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The school is included in the rural dimension of my Department's Giving Children an Even Break programme aimed at combating educational disadvantage. The school receives additional financial resources to provide educational supports to be targeted at disadvantaged pupils. The new action plan for educational inclusion, Delivering Equality Of Opportunity In Schools, which I launched recently,...

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Officials in the school planning section of my Department are working on the detail of the summer works scheme for 2006. I hope to be in a position to announce it shortly.

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: In recent years many improvements have been made to enable principal teachers in primary schools to perform their administrative duties. Up until the 1999-2000 school year, principals were released from teaching duties to become an administrative principal where the school had a staffing of eight or more mainstream class teachers. From the commencement of the 2000-01 school year,...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 152 and 153 together. The school referred to by the Deputy opened in September 1996 with provisional recognition. Having met the criteria for recognition and proven its viability, the school was granted permanent recognition in 2000. Standard practice is that the school authorities are responsible for the securing of interim accommodation which is grant aided...

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Details of the total annual budget for my Department and the percentage of the budget that was underspent in each year are given in the table below. The Deputy should note that the annual Estimates and budgetary process is not generally constructed on the basis of individual projects but that total expenditure is broken into a number of subheads. Underspends and overspends can occur in any of...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The mainstream staffing of a primary school is determined by reference to the enrolment of the school on the 30 September of the previous school year and by reference to a staffing schedule. This staffing schedule is outlined in primary circular 15/05 which issued to all primary schools recently. This is in line with guidelines agreed between my Department and the education partners. In the...

Written Answers — Overseas Students: Overseas Students (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The report on the internationalisation of Irish education services was completed by the working group in September 2004 and published in November 2004. My Department is continuing to engage in a consultation process with the main stakeholders in the sector with a view to informing the implementation process and the preparation of the necessary legislation to establish Education Ireland. As...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that I have included phase two of the building project for the school in question in my recently announced list of school projects to be progressed through architectural planning in 2005. Phase one of the building project is currently under construction and is due for completion in the near future. Phase two of the building project is at an early stage of...

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: A member of my Department's technical staff recently met representatives of the board of management of the school in question to discuss how best to progress the proposed project. I understand that applications for planning permission and a fire safety certificate will be lodged with the relevant local authority as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Schools Refurbishment: Schools Refurbishment (16 Jun 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The school referred to by the Deputy submitted an application under the summer works scheme for 2005 for grant aid for roof repairs, conversion works and a covered walkway. The school identified roof repairs and conversion works as its highest priority project and was successful in obtaining funding for these works. It will not be possible to allocate further funding to the school this year...