Results 19,921-19,940 of 20,682 for speaker:Mary Hanafin

Written Answers — Schools Building Projects: Schools Building Projects (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The project referred to by the Deputy is listed for proceeding to tender and construction over the next 12 to 15 months. My Department's building unit held general information meetings for all schools due to go to tender and construction in the next 12 to 15 months to guide them through the process involved in moving projects to tender and construction. These meetings took place on 31 January...

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The school to which the Deputy refers commenced operation with provisional recognition from my Department in September 2002. During the period of provisional recognition, it is the responsibility of the school patron to provide interim accommodation. This accommodation must be capable of fully meeting the needs of the developing school until permanent recognition has been secured and my...

Written Answers — Institutes of Technology: Institutes of Technology (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The institutes of technology are statutory bodies established under the Regional Technical Colleges Acts 1992 to 1999 and the Dublin Institute of Technology Act 1992. Under these Acts, the governance and day-to-day activities of the institutes, including matters relating to student admissions and transfers of students between institutes, are matters for which the governing bodies and the...

Written Answers — Higher Education Grants: Higher Education Grants (3 Feb 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. No such advice or instruction has, to date, been sought in the case of the student...

Written Answers — Departmental Correspondence: Departmental Correspondence (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The matter referred to by the Deputy is being investigated. I will arrange for a full reply to be forwarded to him as soon as possible.

Written Answers — School Accommodation: School Accommodation (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The analysis and review of overall future provision for primary education in the general area of the school referred to by the Deputy is ongoing. Discussions are also taking place with the primary education providers in the area to determine the likely demand for primary school places in the medium to long term and to determine how existing provision can be maximised to cater for this demand.

Written Answers — Third Level Expenditure: Third Level Expenditure (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Due to the varied costs associated with undergraduate courses, my Department does not have an overall unit cost per student. However the estimated average recurrent cost to the State for the more common undergraduate courses of arts, business, science and engineering is €7,000 per student per year. The average recurrent cost to the State of training a university graduate in these areas on a...

Written Answers — Third Level Expenditure: Third Level Expenditure (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: A unit cost system of allocating funds to the institutes of technology has not been developed. The annual budget for each institute of technology is at present allocated on the basis of its total pay and non-pay requirements following consideration of its annual programmes and budget submission which is required under the RTC-DIT Acts. The allocation takes into account the complexity of the...

Special Educational Needs. (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The National Council for Special Education was established in December 2003 as an independent statutory body with responsibilities as set out in the National Council for Special Education (Establishment) Order 2003. The council has 12 members, all with a special interest in or knowledge of the area of education of children with disabilities. There have been 71 special educational needs...

Special Educational Needs. (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The circular was issued last summer and will come into effect in September 2005. It was never the intention that the weighted system per se would be implemented prior to that date. In the interim, any applications received have been decided on the basis of needs. The idea behind the weighted system is that the staff member will be already assigned to a school or schools to pick up these needs...

Special Educational Needs. (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Services are provided on the basis of the psychological report and the identified needs of the child. If it has been identified that the child does not need the service then he or she will not receive it. The main idea is to have someone in place for all students with high incidence of special educational needs, approximately 10% of the school population. Having heard the views of the council...

Special Educational Needs. (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The proposal involves a general allocation to all primary schools to cater for pupils with higher-incidence special educational needs, that is, pupils with borderline mild and mild general learning disability and specific learning disability. The allocation is also intended to support those with learning support needs, that is, those functioning at or below the tenth percentile on a...

Special Educational Needs. (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I ordered the review because I was conscious that many schools would lose out, particularly disadvantaged, small and rural schools, which I would not like to see happen. The basic principle is that it is a good idea to have the teaching staff in place in the school rather than children having to wait to have their psychological assessment review carried out or to have an application responded...

Special Educational Needs. (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I do not accept this is the case. It targets the 10% of children who are expected to have learning difficulties in the field of literacy and numeracy. We will continue to make special provision for children with extra special needs and those with more severe difficulties who fall into the 3% category. Their needs will continue to be met. However, the idea is that support will be in place for...

Site Acquisitions. (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: The school referred to by the Deputy opened in September 1996 with provisional recognition and was granted permanent recognition in 2000. My Department provides grant aid towards the rental of temporary accommodation for the school at a rate of 95% of the rental costs. The property management section of the Office of Public Works, which acts on behalf of my Department in regard to site...

Site Acquisitions. (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: Tá Gaelscoil na Cruaiche tar éis fás from 30 pupils initially to 183 as and from September 2004. Gan aon amhras, in áit mar sin, nuair a bhíonn gá le foirgneamh, tógaimid é. However, we cannot erect the building until the site is available. The Department is actively pursuing a site to ensure the needs of the school are met. I announced in a recent building programme 122 different...

Site Acquisitions. (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I am conscious of the fact that the lease is due to expire on 30 May 2006. As a result, we are anxious to ensure that the site difficulties can be addressed.

School Curriculum. (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: There were 39 recommendations in the report of the task force on the physical sciences, four of which do not apply to the education sector. Their costed proposals total €244 million, of which €66.3 million would be a recurring annual cost. Progress has been made on 25 of the recommendations. In particular, important progress is being made in regard to curricular reform and in-service...

School Curriculum. (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: I am committed to ensuring that we increase the standards of science and the facilities available to its teaching in our schools. Before Christmas I allocated capital funding for schools for science and science teaching. Equally, some of the proposals involve extraordinary expense though they would no doubt be very valuable, such as the employment of school laboratory assistants, which would...

School Curriculum. (3 Feb 2005)

Mary Hanafin: My aim is to progress as many of the recommendations as possible. A day may come when we can employ laboratory assistants in schools but it has not yet arrived. it would not be appropriate to say we will not employ them when I hope some day we will.