Questions and answers published after July 2012 can be viewed here. Viewing by Government Department is possible by term or specific dates from March 2016 onwards. Written answers are published as received from departments. To see parliamentary questions published before July 2012, search in Dáil debates.
Questions and answers for Dáil or Seanad term
Page 33 of 44
Tue, 30 May 2017
written
Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board
Thomas Byrne
204. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to contracts that Caranua has entered into that Caranua has not referred to him or his predecessors for approval. [25926/17]
Wed, 24 May 2017
oral
Apprenticeship Programmes
Thomas Byrne
25. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will address concerns about the current low rate of creating new apprenticeships and that the targets in the programme for Government will not be met; his views on whether there are significant barriers to creating new apprenticeships; and the steps he will take to address the slow rate of progress. [25041/17]
Wed, 24 May 2017
oral
Third Level Fees
Thomas Byrne
27. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the treatment of pharmacy students in Trinity College, Dublin, UCD and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI, whose degree has been changed in order that they now have to pay masters degree level fees for their final year tuition and are having to undergo an unpaid placement rather than a paid placement in their final year; if he was consulted regarding this change; his views on whether it should be permissible; and his further views on engaging with the presidents of these institutions to reverse these unfair changes. [25042/17]
Wed, 24 May 2017
oral
Schools Mental Health Strategies
Thomas Byrne
36. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether the allocation of 300 classroom hours, rising to 400 hours, to the new wellness programme at junior cycle will reduce the number of hours schools can devote to science and language education in many schools that teach four classes per week in these subjects; and his further views on whether this is inconsistent with the ambition to improve science and language skills. [24667/17]
Wed, 24 May 2017
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Modern Language Teaching
Thomas Byrne
38. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on the modern languages strategy; and his further views on whether the reform of the teaching of modern languages is not being given enough priority in education policy and that his Department has no strategy for improving language skills, particularly at primary level. [24664/17]
Wed, 24 May 2017
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Institutes of Technology Funding
Thomas Byrne
59. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether the level of capital investment in institutes of technology is adequate; the progress being made to address the significant capital shortfall and infrastructure deficits which exist across the sector; and his views on best way in which to remedy these. [24665/17]
Wed, 24 May 2017
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Third Level Qualifications Recognition
Thomas Byrne
68. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the treatment of pharmacy students in Trinity College Dublin, UCD and RCSI whose degrees have been changed and as a result they now have to pay masters degree level fees for their final year tuition and have to undergo an unpaid placement rather than a paid placement in their final year; if he was consulted with regard to this change; his views on whether it should be permissible; and if he will engage with the presidents of these institutions to reverse these changes. [24663/17]
Wed, 24 May 2017
written
DEIS Administration
Thomas Byrne
72. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason data on junior certificate retention rates by school, junior certificate exam results aggregated to school level and or leaving certificate retention rates by school were not used to identify post-primary schools that had high levels of disadvantage for the DEIS identification process; and the further reason he is of the view it is an improvement to exclude information on actual education outcomes from the identification process in favour of purely using information on the socioeconomic context of a school, which is only moderately correlated with actual education outcomes. [24666/17]
Wed, 24 May 2017
written
Mental Health Services Provision
Thomas Byrne
228. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Health the current waiting time for a person in County Meath to access a psychiatric consultant. [24896/17]
Wed, 24 May 2017
written
Mental Health Services Provision
Thomas Byrne
229. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Health if it is common practice for a person who has presented to a hospital experiencing a mental health crisis to be sent home despite having a general practitioner's referral; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24897/17]
Wed, 24 May 2017
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Hospital Procedures
Thomas Byrne
230. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Health his views on whether serious flaws exist within the hospital system for persons that present with mental health difficulties. [24898/17]
Tue, 23 May 2017
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Garda Inspectorate Reports
Thomas Byrne
70. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when the review of Garda districts as promised under the programme for Government will be published. [24328/17]
Tue, 23 May 2017
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Garda Strength
Thomas Byrne
83. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the way in which she proposes to ensure Garda numbers are increased in County Meath. [24329/17]
Tue, 16 May 2017
written
Apprenticeship Programmes
Thomas Byrne
159. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the amount of funding provided by his Department in 2017 for funding apprenticeships; and the number of apprenticeships that are currently being funded. [22748/17]
Tue, 16 May 2017
written
Stay Safe Programme
Thomas Byrne
160. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the funding that has been allocated to schools to implement the child abuse prevention programme; and his views on whether this is adequate. [22750/17]
Tue, 16 May 2017
written
School Funding
Thomas Byrne
161. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason his Department caps per-pupil primary school funding at 500 pupils; and the rationale and justification for this. [22751/17]
Tue, 16 May 2017
written
Traveller Education
Thomas Byrne
162. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the funding provided in each of the years 2009 to 2016 and to date in 2017 to primary schools and post-primary schools for additional Traveller support, in tabular form. [22752/17]
Tue, 16 May 2017
written
Junior Cycle Reform
Thomas Byrne
167. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the status of the oral junior certificate curriculum; and the changes being proposed and implemented. [22872/17]
Tue, 16 May 2017
written
Departmental Staff Remuneration
Thomas Byrne
182. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of persons employed by his Department, or by public bodies or agencies funded by his Department, on salaries in excess of €125,000; the areas and organisations in which they work; and the positions or titles of the persons concerned. [22967/17]
Tue, 16 May 2017
written
Further Education and Training Colleges
Thomas Byrne
183. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position with regard to a new building for a college (details supplied). [22972/17]
Tue, 16 May 2017
written
Post-Leaving Certificate Courses Availability
Thomas Byrne
184. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of PLC, post-leaving certificate, places allocated to each ETB, education and training board; and the number of PLC places actually taken up in each ETB in each of the past three years. [22973/17]
Tue, 16 May 2017
written
School Closures
Thomas Byrne
186. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the proposals to close a school (details supplied); if this is in accord with the programme for Government commitments; and the steps he will take to prevent this occurring. [23005/17]
Tue, 16 May 2017
written
Departmental Properties
Thomas Byrne
198. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason his Department's land at Ashbourne, County Meath, is for sale in view of the fact that it is needed for public education and has also been the subject of discussions with Meath County Council for use as a public park. [23184/17]
Tue, 16 May 2017
written
Mental Health Policy
Thomas Byrne
199. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 198, 206, 210, 211 and 212 of 9 May 2016, if he will clarify his reply that schools can plan a well-being programme without loss of teaching time for other subjects; and the way in which hours for the well-being programme will not impact on hours for other subjects. [23187/17]
Tue, 16 May 2017
written
Public Services Card Provision
Thomas Byrne
247. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Social Protection when a public services card will issue to a person (details supplied). [22759/17]
Tue, 16 May 2017
written
Services for People with Disabilities
Thomas Byrne
412. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Health when a five-day assisted living service will be provided to a person (details supplied) with special needs. [22971/17]
Tue, 16 May 2017
written
School Attendance Data
Thomas Byrne
605. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 264 of 4 May 2017, her views on whether it would not be worthwhile to compile non-attendance rates for schools for administrative divisions smaller than county level, even though the information and expertise is available within her Department and Tusla; and her further views on the use of county level statistics for understanding the impact of policies aimed at reducing school non-attendance or non-retention (details supplied). [22749/17]
Thu, 11 May 2017
written
Public Services Card
Thomas Byrne
143. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Social Protection the identification requirements for an application for a public services card. [22442/17]
Thu, 11 May 2017
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Passport Services
Thomas Byrne
163. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the document which will satisfy his Department regarding passport applications by stateless persons who may be entitled to citizenship but not a public services card. [22443/17]
Wed, 10 May 2017
written
Vacancies on State Boards
Thomas Byrne
108. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of vacancies on State boards under his aegis; and when each vacancy dates from. [22211/17]
Wed, 10 May 2017
written
Higher Education Courses Provision
Thomas Byrne
109. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department or a body under its aegis has figures on numbers undertaking PhDs in each year since 2009, including PhD entry rates compared to completion rates in HEIs here; and if he will provide same. [22222/17]
Wed, 10 May 2017
written
GLAS Payments
Thomas Byrne
219. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of an application for a GLAS payment by a person (details supplied). [22248/17]
Wed, 10 May 2017
written
GLAS Payments
Thomas Byrne
220. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of an application for a GLAS payment by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22252/17]
Tue, 9 May 2017
written
Disability Support Services Provision
Thomas Byrne
494. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Health if an assessment for disability home support can be expedited for a person (details supplied). [22050/17]
Thu, 4 May 2017
written
DEIS Administration
Thomas Byrne
103. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the details of the verification process with which DEIS schools can engage to ensure accuracy of the new education disadvantage identification process (details supplied); and if no verification process is in place, the reason for same. [21170/17]
Thu, 4 May 2017
written
DEIS Status
Thomas Byrne
104. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason the new DEIS identification and designation process does not directly measure schools differing student intake profiles (details supplied). [21171/17]
Thu, 4 May 2017
written
School Absenteeism
Thomas Byrne
264. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the details of school non-attendance data for each electoral division in Dublin or the smallest administrative division available in each of the years 2010 to 2016 in tabular form. [21172/17]
Wed, 3 May 2017
written
School Excellence Fund
Thomas Byrne
155. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the details of the new pilot projects for school clusters to test effective interventions and provide evidence for future resourcing proposed under the school support programme. [20950/17]
Wed, 3 May 2017
written
Special Educational Needs Staff
Thomas Byrne
169. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views that there is an inconsistency in his Department's aversion to using school level data on education achievement or outcomes in addition to school level survey data to identify schools in which there is concentrated disadvantage for the purposes of DEIS, but is willing to use the same data to indicate schools' socioeconomic context for the purposes of allocating resource teaching under the new SEN allocation model; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20990/17]
Tue, 2 May 2017
written
National Training Fund
Thomas Byrne
298. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the specific training grants supplied to industry from the national training fund in each of the years 2015 and 2016. [19197/17]
Tue, 2 May 2017
written
National Training Fund
Thomas Byrne
299. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the amount collected from the national training levy in each of the years 2000 to 2010; and the use of this funding by types of programme. [19198/17]
Tue, 2 May 2017
written
SOLAS Funding
Thomas Byrne
300. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the programmes for which his Department provides funding to SOLAS in each year since its establishment; and the number of participants on each programme in each year. [19199/17]
Tue, 2 May 2017
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Skills Development
Thomas Byrne
301. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether there is scope to reduce funding to the Springboard or information and communication technology skills conversion course programmes due to reduced demand from unemployed persons. [19200/17]
Tue, 2 May 2017
written
SOLAS Training and Education Programmes Places
Thomas Byrne
302. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of participants on training programmes for the unemployed run by SOLAS in each of the years from 2007 to 2016; if funding to these programmes will be reduced due to decreasing demand from unemployed persons; and the reason expenditure on these programmes increased in 2016 compared to 2014 and 2015 in view of the general reduction in unemployment. [19201/17]
Tue, 2 May 2017
written
Apprenticeship Programmes
Thomas Byrne
303. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the approximate cost of the programme for Government commitment to achieving cumulative apprenticeship registrations and traineeship enrolments of 50,000 in the period 2016 to 2020; and the approximate cost to the State of training an apprentice. [19234/17]
Tue, 2 May 2017
written
Third Level Funding
Thomas Byrne
304. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the €600 million core funding requirement by 2020 referenced in the Cassells report includes or excludes provision for demographic increases that have already been included in fiscal parameters for 2018 and 2019. [19235/17]
Tue, 2 May 2017
written
DEIS Data
Thomas Byrne
366. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason no education performance or educational outcomes data from individual schools was used in the identification process for DEIS status; and his views on whether this is a significant shortcoming in the methodology used. [20278/17]
Tue, 2 May 2017
written
DEIS Data
Thomas Byrne
367. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools that have requested verification of the data used to identify the levels of concentrated disadvantage in their school for the purposes of identifying their eligibility for support under the DEIS programme; the name of each school that has requested this verification; if his Department is providing this verification to each school that has requested it; and the detail of the verification process. [20279/17]
Tue, 2 May 2017
written
DEIS Data
Thomas Byrne
368. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason data on junior certificate retention rates by school, junior certificate exam results aggregated to school level and or leaving certificate retention rates by school were not used to identify post-primary schools that had high levels of disadvantage for the DEIS identification process; and the reason he is of the view that it is an improvement to exclude information on actual education outcomes from the identification process in favour of purely using information on the socioeconomic context of a school which is only moderately correlated with actual education outcomes. [20280/17]
Tue, 2 May 2017
written
DEIS Data
Thomas Byrne
369. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether it is problematic that the DEIS identification process relies on an assumption that there is a strong correlation between the HP Deprivation Index and educational outcomes; the level of research there has been to support this assumption; and the correlation between the index and education outcomes, including education disadvantage. [20335/17]