Parliamentary questions

Institutes of Technology Issues

Barry Cowen

21. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide details of the proposed reorganisation of third level education; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32259/13]

State Examinations Issues

Mary Lou McDonald

22. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide an update on the report he has ordered the State Examinations Commission to make into the typographical errors and mistakes that were made on leaving certificate papers; and if he will provide details of the way answers to these questions will be assessed in view of these mistakes. [32211/13]

Special Educational Needs Services Provision

Pearse Doherty

23. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide assurances that the allocation of an additional 500 resource teachers to meet the increase in the percentage of children with special needs who are attending school from September 2013 onwards will result in funding being withdrawn from the overall education budget; if he will confirm that he has no plans to increase the pupil-teacher ratio. [32216/13]

Special Educational Needs Services Provision

Éamon Ó Cuív

24. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Education and Skills the implications for the education budget in 2014 of the additional resource teachers announced on 25 June 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32280/13]

State Examinations Issues

Patrick O'Donovan

25. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will examine the circumstances of the mistakes that were reported in the leaving certificate maths papers; if his Department has carried out an investigation into what happened; if he has taken steps to ensure that the issue does not arise again; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32016/13]

Student Grant Scheme Applications

John McGuinness

26. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of Student Universal Support Ireland applications outstanding; the number of applications that are currently under appeal; the impact on students accessing exam results; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32275/13]

Pupil-Teacher Ratio

Bernard Durkan

27. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which he expects to be in a position to retain workable levels of pupil-teacher ratios in all schools throughout the country, primary and post-primary, private and public, religious and non-denominational, keeping in mind the need to maintain adequate capitation levels; if he accepts that variations already exist in this regard within both the private and the public school sector and between both and the desirability of the need to recognise the difficulties faced at this time of economic stress; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32224/13]

Third Level Funding

Pearse Doherty

28. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will respond to objections raised by staff of Dublin Institute of Technology regarding the provision of Shell funding towards the new visual arts degree in Erris, County Mayo, which is being offered by DIT and Mayo County Council. [32217/13]

Industrial Disputes

Robert Troy

29. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the contingency plans he has in place to deal with any industrial action by teachers in the autumn; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32264/13]

Comhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta

Seán Ó Fearghaíl

30. D'fhiafraigh Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl den Aire Oideachais agus Scileanna céard é an beartas faoi neamhspleáchas na Comhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta; agus an ndéanfaidh sé ráiteas ina thaobh. [26106/13]

School Staffing

Gerry Adams

31. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason his Department wrote to the National Council for Special Education on 30 May regarding the 75% resource teaching allocations it was asked to delay communicating this information to schools for three weeks; and if he will respond to criticism that this resulted in considerable uncertainty for school authorities who would have found it difficult to put in place staff for September at such short notice. [32210/13]

Student Support Schemes Issues

Martin Ferris

32. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason the Student Universal Support Ireland application system was not available online earlier than its launch in May when many sixth year students had broken up for the school year; and if he will respond to the view that having the system available earlier would have allowed counsellors additional time to help students with their college applications. [32221/13]

Special Educational Needs Expenditure

Michael McGrath

33. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Skills the impact of the special needs assistant cap on access to special needs support from next September in view of the increase in demand; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32273/13]

Student Support Schemes Issues

Seán Crowe

34. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will intervene to stop third level institutions employing debt collectors to pursue student debt, in view of the serious difficulties that arose from the processing of grants through Student Universal Support Ireland in the 2012-13 academic year. [32215/13]

National Council for Special Education

Michael Colreavy

35. Deputy Michael Colreavy asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on reports that children with special educational needs from middle-class backgrounds continue to receive more support at school than those from working-class areas as a result of having enhanced access to private psychological assessments when compared to schools dependent on the State funded National Educational Psychological Service. [32213/13]

Traveller Community Issues

Michael Colreavy

36. Deputy Michael Colreavy asked the Minister for Education and Skills if it is appropriate for the statistics section of his Department to contact schools to request in writing from the parents of Traveller children confirmation of their ethnic status in order to qualify for the higher capitation grant; and if he considers this method of data collection at odds with the concept of integrating Traveller children into a mainstream school setting. [32214/13]

Student Grant Scheme Eligibility

Mary Lou McDonald

37. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide a guarantee that he has shelved plans to include assets such as farmland and business premises in the means tests for third level students. [32212/13]

Child Care Guidelines

Seamus Kirk

38. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he is satisfied with the implementation of Síolta and Aistear; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32269/13]

Special Educational Needs Services Provision

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

39. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason it is taking until 2015 to implement the national policy on educating children with autism; and the reasons behind the lengthy delay for implementing a national policy for children with autism. [32208/13]

Institutes of Technology Funding

Thomas Pringle

40. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will outline in tabular form the capital funding which has been allocated to institutes of technology over the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32281/13]