Results 1,801-1,820 of 3,797 for speaker:Ciarán Cannon

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further Education and Training Programmes Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: The establishment of SOLAS is part of a wider reform programme that has included the rationalisation of 33 VECS into 16 Education and Training Boards. The Further Education and Training Act, 2013 was enacted in July this year. The Act provides for the establishment of SOLAS, the dissolution of FAS and the transfer over time of FÁS training division to the Education and Training Boards...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Post-Leaving Certificate Courses (8 Oct 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: There are currently 32,688 approved Post Leaving Certificate (PLC) places available nationwide. Over 90% of PLC provision is delivered by ETBs with the remainder delivered by voluntary secondary and community and comprehensive schools. The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the table. The enrolment data provided is for the 2012/2013 academic year as the enrolment data for the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Provision (8 Oct 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: Bus Éireann, which operates the School Transport Schemes on behalf of my Department, is responsible for the planning and timetabling of school transport routes. Bus Éireann endeavours, within available resources, to ensure that each eligible child has a reasonable level of school transport service within the context of the Scheme nationally. Bus Éireann has advised that...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Prison Staff (8 Oct 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: Recruitment for the appointment of a head teacher to Shelton Abbey open prison in Arklow was conducted by Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board (ETB). The ETB has informed my Department that the post in question was filled following an open competition which was advertised on the ETB's website and in the Irish Independent newspaper. The ETB received seventeen applications for the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Issues (8 Oct 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: The matters raised by the Deputy are proper to Bus Éireann. I am informed by Bus Éireann that in 2012, following an investigation instigated by the Company in relation to a small number of irregular cash transactions identified through internal checks in the office referred to by the Deputy, disciplinary action was taken against an employee in line with Bus Éireann internal...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Provision (3 Oct 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: I take it the Deputy is referring to the Bus Eireann Audited Accounts 2010 Explanatory Note on the Department website. The administration heading, amounting to €18.2m in 2010, covers some direct costs, indirect support costs, indirect regional costs, property and a contribution. This figure was reduced to €16.7m in 2011. A breakdown of both the 2010 and 2011 figures is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Provision (3 Oct 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: School Transport was the subject of a Value for Money Review carried out as part of the 2009-2011 round of Value for Money Reviews. This review, which is available on my Department's website, looked in detail at the various cost factors impacting on the provision of school transport including the scale of provision for children with special educational needs, levels of parental choice and...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Provision (3 Oct 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: Safety is Bus Éireann's highest priority and this is reflected in the company's vehicle maintenance process and procedures. The report of the School Transport Value for the Money Review noted, for example, that random checks of maintenance standards and audits of maintenance records including contractors' school buses and their maintenance premises, conducted on behalf of Bus...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Issues (3 Oct 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: I propose to take Questions Nos 104 to 107, inclusive, together. Matters raised by the Deputy in his questions relate to the arrangements between my Department and Bus Éireann which have been the subject of a recent Commercial High Court case taken by Student Transport Scheme Ltd against the Minister for Education and Skills. In addition, documentation, the publication of which is...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Provision (3 Oct 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: Under the terms of my Department's Primary School Transport Scheme children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 3.2 kms from and are attending their nearest national school as determined by my Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language. Bus Éireann, which operates the School Transport Scheme on behalf of my Department, has advised that the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Provision (2 Oct 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: I propose to take Questions Nos. 138, 140 and 141 together. The matters raised by the Deputy are proper to Bus Eireann. I am informed by Bus Éireann that in 2010, following an investigation instigated by the Company in relation to school transport matters in Limerick, disciplinary action was taken against an employee in line with Bus Eireann internal procedures. This was an internal...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Provision (2 Oct 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: Bus Éireann, which operates school transport services on behalf of my Department, maintains a separate account for the School Transport Scheme. This account is audited each year by independent auditors and accounts in respect of the last number of years are available on my Department's website. The amount rebated for the financial years 2008 to 2012 is €.5m, €.351m,...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Staff Recruitment (2 Oct 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: The recruitment process mentioned by the Deputy was conducted by an Education and Training Board. The board responsible for the filling of this position has informed my Department that its recruitment procedures are transparent, valid and appropriate and that these procedures were followed in filling the position in question.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Applications (2 Oct 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: Bus Éireann, which operates the school transport schemes on behalf of my Department, has advised that the family in question was late in submitting its application for school transport for the 2013-14 school year and that a ticket will issue within the next few days.

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Eligibility (1 Oct 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: The Deputy will be aware that children are eligible for post primary school transport where they reside not less than 4.8 kms from and are attending their nearest education centre as determined by my Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language. Bus Éireann, which operates the school transport scheme, has advised that children who are eligible for school transport...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Provision (1 Oct 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: I propose to take Questions Nos. 231 and 232 together. Matters raised by the Deputy in his questions relate to the arrangements between my Department and Bus Éireann which have been the subject of a recent Commercial High Court case taken by Student Transport Scheme Ltd against the Minister for Education and Skills. This case spanned a period of six days and the judgement delivered on...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Applications (1 Oct 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: The Deputy will be aware that children are eligible for post primary school transport where they reside not less than 4.8 kms from and are attending their nearest education centre as determined by my Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language. Bus Éireann, which operates the school transport scheme, has advised that an existing service can be extended to facilitate...

Topical Issue Debate: Homelessness Strategy (26 Sep 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: I agree wholeheartedly that the number of rough sleepers is only a symptom, an indication of a far more deeply rooted problem. However, the fact that the number of rough sleepers is slowly but surely reducing gives some hope that the overall issue of homelessness is being addressed in a meaningful way. The fact that last year 880 people moved from homelessness to independent living is...

Topical Issue Debate: Homelessness Strategy (26 Sep 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: Unfortunately, the Minister of State with responsibility for housing and planning, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, is not available to take this debate today but has asked me to thank the Members for providing this opportunity to discuss the issue of homelessness and the Government's response to it. Dublin Simon has reported through the national media that 85 people were sleeping rough in Dublin city...

Topical Issue Debate: Services for People with Disabilities (26 Sep 2013)

Ciarán Cannon: The spirit underpinning and woven throughout the Haddington Road agreement is that we will try as best we can to work with fewer resources than we have worked with in the past on the basis that we continue to borrow €1 billion per month to run our country. We still have that deficit and it is piling up month after month upon the shoulders of the next generation.