Results 541-560 of 3,673 for speaker:Ciarán Cannon

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (12 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: School Transport services under the 'Closed School Rule (CSR)' have their origin in the amalgamation of primary schools in the late 1960s. It was the practice in the case of such amalgamations to provide transport to the amalgamated schools and it is likely that this was conveyed as part of the overall process. Given that there were in excess of 800 schools covered by such amalgamations, and...

Special Educational Needs: Motion (Resumed) (13 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I thank the members of the Technical Group for allocating their time to this very important issue. It provides me with an opportunity to reassure all parents of children with special educational needs that their children will continue to have access to an education appropriate to their needs. Over the course of this debate last night and this evening, speakers from both sides of the House...

School Books (13 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, the Minister for Education and Skills. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter and providing an opportunity to outline the position with regard to the cost of school books. I am aware of the concern expressed by many parents and organisations, including the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, about the high cost of school...

Hospital Services (13 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter, to which I am replying on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly. I assure the Deputy that the HSE has no plans to reduce cath lab services from the current level of provision. We all recognise that, in the particularly difficult circumstances the country is facing, hospitals are facing financial challenges in delivering acute...

Hospital Services (13 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly. I welcome the opportunity to address the House on the provision of cancer services, including surgery, at St. James's Hospital. The burden of cancer continues to increase. This year, approximately 24,000 people will be diagnosed with invasive cancer. Each year an average of over 2,600 men are...

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (13 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: The child, referred to by the Deputy, is not eligible for school transport under the terms of the School Transport Scheme for Children with Special Needs. My Department is finalising arrangements to introduce concessionary transport, in certain circumstances, for ineligible children with special educational needs from the beginning of the 2011/12 school year. Detailed information on the...

Written Answers — Skills Development: Skills Development (13 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I understand from Forfás, Ireland's policy advisory board for enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation, that in recent years there have been many examples of both Forfás and the Northern Ireland Department for Employment and Learning working together to share information and to understand more fully the labour market on both parts of the island of Ireland. These include joint...

Residential Institutions Redress (Amendment) Bill 2011: Order for Second Stage (14 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I move: "That Second Stage be taken now."

Residential Institutions Redress (Amendment) Bill, 2011: Second Stage (14 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to bring the Residential Institutions Redress (Amendment) Bill 2011 before the House. The Residential Institutions Redress Board, established under the Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002, formed a central part of the range of measures put in place in response to child abuse in residential institutions. Set up as an...

Residential Institutions Redress (Amendment) Bill, 2011: Second Stage (14 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I thank Deputies for their contributions over the past two hours. Thankfully, the debate was conducted in the correct spirit and was devoid of some of the naked political grandstanding that has set the tone for much of the debate in the House in recent weeks. I will address some of the points raised by Members on both sides of the House. Deputies Seán Crowe and Brendan Smith sought...

Business of Dáil (14 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I move: That, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders or the Order of the Dáil of today, Question Time shall be taken for 75 minutes at 5.30 p.m. or on the conclusion of the Second and Remaining Stages of the Residential Institutions Redress (Amendment) Bill 2011, whichever is the later.

Residential Institutions Redress (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I regret that I cannot accept Deputy Crowe's amendment. As I explained on Second Stage, the Government believes that the redress board has, by and large, completed the task assigned to it. The timeframe for the receipt of applications which was set out in the original legislation provided a reasonable period within which applicants could submit their cases. The legislation also made...

Residential Institutions Redress (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: Deputy Crowe referred to the publication of the Ryan report. Perhaps I misunderstood him but he appeared to think that it jogged the memories of only a cohort resident in the UK. I suggest that the shock and horror we felt as a nation reverberated around the whole world at the time. While no one would claim to be 100% confident that every single person who requires redress has accessed it,...

Residential Institutions Redress (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I cannot accept this unnecessary amendment. The framework under which awards are made by the redress board is based on the report published in January 2002 by the independent compensation advisory committee, chaired by Seán Ryan SC, Towards Redress and Recovery, which advised on the appropriate levels of compensation for injuries relating to childhood abuse. Having reviewed international...

Residential Institutions Redress (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: On foot of the provisions contained in the original Act and the extensive work done by the committee subsequently, it is safe enough to draw the conclusion that the scrutiny required and the exploration necessary of the international precedents regarding the amounts to be awarded to victims were carried out. One could conclude - reasonably fairly - that the awards offered were substantial...

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (14 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I propose to take Questions Nos. 93 and 94 together. Changes in the School Transport Scheme were announced by the previous Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government and derive from recommendations in the Value for Money Review of the scheme. I take it the Deputy is referring to the increase in the minimum number of eligible children required to establish or retain a school transport service. Bus...

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (14 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: Under the terms of my Department's Primary School Transport Scheme, pupils who reside 3.2 kilometres or more from, and are attending, their nearest national school as determined by my Department, are eligible for school transport. The pupils referred to by the Deputy reside less than 3.2 kilometres from their school of attendance and are therefore not eligible for school transport. It is...

Seanad: School Accommodation (14 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: I am replying to this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn. I thank Senator O'Brien for raising this matter, as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to the Seanad the Government's strategy for capital investment in education projects and the current position regarding St. Sylvester's infant school, Malahide, County Dublin. As the...

Written Answers — Skills Development: Skills Development (19 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: My Department is continually examining ways to increase the availability of, and to enhance the success of, education and training provision for the unemployed. My Department is funding in 2011 the provision of over 154,000 Training places through FÁS, Skillnets and the Labour Market Activation Fund and 172,000 places which the unemployed may access in the Further Education sector as well...

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (19 Jul 2011)

Ciarán Cannon: The detailed analysis relating to changes in the 'Closed School Rule' has been initiated by Bus Éireann and will draw on the final data in relation to school transport requirements in September 2011. Given this fact, I do not expect to have the final details for some weeks yet. These changes are not due to be implemented until September 2012 and as detailed consideration and assessment...