Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 111: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of whole school evaluations to be completed in 2006; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5567/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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A total of 57 whole school evaluations are planned at post-primary level for 2006; 230 whole school evaluations at primary level are also planned for 2006. It is not possible at this stage of the year to give an accurate number of actual completions by the end of 2006 for a number of reasons.

The final number of evaluations completed in any year is contingent on, among other things, the availability of inspectorate time for this work in the context of evaluation activity that may be prioritised in other areas throughout the year. In addition, requests at short notice to investigate complaints made to the Department and advisory work arising from unexpected requests undertaken by inspectors can impinge on some of the time available to do this work. It can also happen that some evaluations can transcend the calendar year and whole school evaluations begun towards the end of a year may not be completed until the early part of the following year.