Results 19,441-19,460 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: My Department has not received any application for additional accommodation from the management authorities of Coláiste Ciaran, Leixlip, County Kildare. The school authories should contact the school planning section of my Department if there is a need for additional accommodation at the school.

Written Answers — Site Acquisitions: Site Acquisitions (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The property management section of the OPW, which acts on behalf of my Department on site acquisitions generally, is currently negotiating a site acquisition for the new national school in Ardclough, County Kildare. Due to the commercial sensitivities of site acquisitions, the information requested by the Deputy is not available for release at present.

Written Answers — Special Educational Needs: Special Educational Needs (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Children with dyslexia have, up to now, generally been catered for on an integrated basis in ordinary primary schools where they can be supported by the learning support teacher service or the resource teacher service. At present, there are approximately 2,600 resource teachers and 1,531 learning support teachers in the primary system. Where the condition of a pupil with dyslexia is of a more...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The decision on eligibility for third level grants is a matter for the relevant local authority or VEC. These bodies do not refer individual applications to my Department except in exceptional cases where, for example, advice or instruction regarding a particular clause in the relevant scheme is desired. The position in the case referred to by the Deputy remains the same as outlined in my...

Schools Building Projects. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I am conscious of the issues raised by the Deputy and in particular the pressures for places in some schools and colleges in the greater Dublin area and in those areas within commuting distance of Dublin which are experiencing major population growth. To this end my Department is prioritising the provision of new and enhanced educational facilities in these areas. The prioritisation criteria...

Schools Building Projects. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: On the Deputy's first point on the issue of sites, I would like to see a situation where a developer had to make a site available at low or no cost to the Department of Education and Science. However, I want to ensure he does not then hike up the price of houses. That said, it may be worth it for those people to have children in their schools.

Schools Building Projects. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The legal advice is that one cannot make it a condition of the rezoning. That issue would have to be examined because a property right is involved. In fairness, there are local authorities, such as Fingal County Council, which are being extraordinarily helpful to us to ensure the Department does not end up paying large sums of money. There can be a programme through which community facilities...

School Discipline. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 69 together. I recently established a task force to consider and report on the issue of student behaviour in second level schools. The task force is chaired by Dr. Maeve Martin of the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. I want the work of this task force to provide a solid foundation for developing policies and best practice in our schools into...

School Discipline. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I am well aware of the various types of education centres providing an education for so many young people throughout the country. Those groups are represented on this task force to ensure a broad range of views and experience. A recently retired principal teacher on the Youth Encounter project in Limerick city is a member of the group.

School Discipline. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I agree, as are all the members of the task force. The task force will consider various issues. The Deputy is correct in that it is a balance of rights, between the individual student and the rest of the students in the class and a balance of rights between the teacher and the right of the teacher to be able to work within that environment. It is to ensure the creation of an educational...

School Discipline. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I deliberately called it a task force on student behaviour, which is quite a wide definition. People are invited to make submissions on anything that relates to this subject. I know the task force will be very happy to consider them. The members of the task force are practitioners in all the various sectors of education. They represent parents, teachers, principals and people outside the...

School Discipline. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Deputy McGrath has expressed it quite well. The teacher in the classroom is the person who should be in control and should have the skill to deal with the wide range of issues that arise. The terms of reference of the task force refer to the issue of disruptive students as it impacts on teaching and learning, the effectiveness of strategy at present, in other words, looking at best practice...

Special Educational Needs. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 53 and 72 together. The number of children within the primary education system is in the region of 446,000 pupils and increasing. Arising from the census of special needs provision undertaken by my Department towards the end of 2003, there were 4,527 pupils within the mild general learning disability range, and 2,450 within the borderline mild general learning...

Special Educational Needs. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: It is certainly not the intention to ignore such children. Those children will be included in an allocation that will ensure that resource teaching will be available in the school even before the child joins the school. This is to avoid a child having to wait until first or second class or even beyond before a need might be identified. Resource teaching will be available in the school as soon...

Special Educational Needs. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: As I indicated, 2,600 extra resource teachers entered the system in recent years. A further 350 were assigned under this model and the Department is determining whether more will be needed. At the same time as reducing class sizes, as Deputies and others ask me to do, we must ensure this issue is addressed and it will be a priority.

Special Educational Needs. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I do not have figures to hand. The 3% figure to which I referred relates to the specific high incidence group. The task force on dyslexia recognised that the teacher, in the first instance, would identify a need and refer a child to a learning support in the school. If this did not work, the teacher would call in a NEPS psychologist to evaluate what further needs should be met. The matter...

Special Educational Needs. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I thank Deputy Finian McGrath for his interest in this issue. I am not aware of specific complaints about children not being able to gain access to primary schools. Under section 29 of the Act, parents can appeal to the Department if their children are refused enrolment. Parents need to be aware of this provision because our aim is to ensure that those who want their children in mainstream...

School Accommodation. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Since the beginning of 2000 my Department has spent €74,300,212 on the purchase of prefabricated buildings in the primary and post-primary sectors. This expenditure was for the supply and installation of the prefabricated buildings, including associated site works, and other costs such as for compliance with planning permission conditions, professional fees, connections for water,...

School Accommodation. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The priority must be to ensure there is space for the children. Prefabs are not a long-term solution. However, a school or an extra classroom cannot be built between now and September. This is why prefabs are provided in ensuring places for children. Another reason for so much temporary accommodation is the increase in the number of primary teachers from 22,095 in September 2000 to 25,959....

School Accommodation. (9 Mar 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I am interested in examining development plans and looking at how school sites can be made available. It pains me to have to pay so much for some sites, particularly in the greater Dublin area. However, it must be acknowledged that many of the sites are private personal property. It is an issue that will arise in other Departments in the next several years. An individual's personal property...