115. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills to outline the professional advice, best practice or research on which he has based his reforms of the junior certificate programme. [10896/14]
114. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills to outline the provision that has been made for the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment to implement reform of the junior certificate curriculum. [10895/14]
113. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the details of supports and supervision that will be available to teachers on introduction of the new junior certificate reforms. [10894/14]
112. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the details of any costing or feasibility studies undertaken for the new junior certificate programmes. [10893/14]
111. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the resources he has allocated to training teachers for implementation of the new junior certificate reforms. [10892/14]
107. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the details of any cost-benefit analysis undertaken by his Department regarding the payment of fees by parents for school transport, particularly with regard to having a monthly payment option, since 2007. [10880/14]
73. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to improve the teaching of maths in second level schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10383/14]
72. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views of the findings in the chief inspector's report that the depth of mathematical knowledge required to deliver the objectives of projects maths is challenging to some teachers; his plans to improve training for teachers in this subject; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10382/14]
68. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the mechanisms open to parents to make a complaint about a school principal or the board of management to his Department; the procedures involved; the details of the capacity of his Department to ensure that schools provide the standard of education to which children are entitled; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10316/14]
67. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide the details of all contracts and consultancy arrangements entered in to by the Caranua board; the consultancy and contract arrangements that were approved by him under section 7(7) of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012, including the costs of each of these arrangements and names of consultancy firms and contractors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10314/14]
65. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he has exercised his powers under section 30(3) of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012 to seek an advance from the investment account managed by the National Treasury Management Agency to enable him to make a payment for the operation of an appeals process; if he has given any consideration to the 2014 budgetary requirements of an appeals officer and any staff of an appeals officer; if so, if he will disclose those figures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10261/14]
64. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason 11 months after the establishment date of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012, he has not enabled sections 21 and 22 of this Act by bringing forward the requisite commencement order and regulations; his views on whether the right to appeal an adverse decision of the Caranua board is a right under section 22 of this Act; the number of applications the board have approved and paid to former residents under section 3(1) of the Act; the number that were rejected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10263/14]
185. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to appoint a sergeant to Coachford Garda station, County Cork; if he will restore a full-time Garda station to Coachford Garda station; if he will downgrade Coachford Garda station; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10096/14]
217. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that applied behavioural analysis for children with autism is viewed as a medical treatment in the US rather than an educational service; his views on same; his plans to ensure that ABA is considered a medical treatment in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9753/14]
77. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 125 of 27 June 2013, the names of the international experts referred to in his reply and titles of their research papers and documents used; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9745/14]
76. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of postgraduate programme places for teachers involved in learning support and special education; and the number of teachers who have availed of these places during each of the past three years. [9744/14]
75. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide details of the training available to teachers through the Special Education Support Service in teaching children with autism including ABA, TEACCH, and PECS; the length of these courses; the number of teachers who have applied for and the number who have participated in them during each of the past three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9743/14]
74. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on the use of ABA teaching methods for children with autism; his plans to expand same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9742/14]
73. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the departmental circulars that govern the use of ABA-early intervention for education for children with ASD. [9741/14]
72. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason his Department feels that primary school teachers are qualified to work with preschool age groups in preschools attached to primary schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9740/14]
467. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the position regarding the proposed fire station in Kanturk, County Cork, which was announced in 2007; when work will commence on this fire station; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9246/14]
282. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the specific qualifications required to teach the new politics course at leaving certificate level. [9229/14]
146. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the date on which he will receive the Higher Education Authority report on funding third level education. [9215/14]
141. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to address the staffing shortage in the third level sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9164/14]
140. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he is concerned at some of the lessons that are being taught to children by external groups in schools for sex education; and if he is concerned at some of the teaching methods they use which have been the subject of recent media reports. [9162/14]
138. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to accommodate the 15% increase in the numbers beginning second level education over the next five years; his plans to address teaching shortages in some subjects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9163/14]
133. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to recent proposals by religious patrons to close a number of primary schools across the State and the consequences this will have for children and communities. [9165/14]
103. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the fact that there are proposals by a number of patron bodies to amalgamate primary schools and the distress that this is causing to parents and pupils as a result; and his plans to address this situation. [9432/14]
100. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the anomalies within the Student Universal Support Ireland grant application system that are causing extreme hardship for many students. [9431/14]
113. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the difficulties faced by schools, such as a school (details supplied) in Dublin 5, which worked hard to introduce a book rental scheme and as a result are not now entitled to the grant of €150 per pupil attending DEIS schools to set up book schemes; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that their current per capita grant of €21 is not nearly enough to keep their current book rental scheme running and that parents must contribute to help with the scheme; and if he will re-examine this scheme with a view to implementing it fairly so that schools who already set up book schemes are not effectively financially penalised for doing so. [8762/14]
582. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to fund another sexual abuse and violence in Ireland report. [8221/14]
576. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the education facilities available in each prison here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8130/14]
517. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will work with the Department of Social Protection to provide greater opportunities for unemployed persons to avail of work in polling stations and count centres across the State in the forthcoming elections. [8163/14]
485. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will consider allocating a minimum of 20% of positions in polling stations and count centres to unemployed persons and ensure it is part of the returning officer's role to do so; if he will ensure that returning officers put in place a more transparent recruitment system which gives unemployed persons an equal opportunity to access these positions; if he will further ensure that such a system is widely publicised so that unemployed persons are made aware of how to register their interest in these positions; and if he will ensure that recruitment processes positively encourage and welcome applications from unemployed persons. [8164/14]
269. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the Net Children Go Mobile study on children’s use of the Internet in Ireland, recent research which found that 22% of children have experienced bullying online; and his plans to address this matter within the school system. [7862/14]
233. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of family support workers employed by the Health Service Executive and their locations. [7201/14]
232. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of youth workers employed by the Health Service Executive and their locations. [7200/14]
108. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the fact that under the Mental Health Act, a general practitioner is considered an approved officer of the Health Service Executive to make a recommendation for a patient to be involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric facility in their capacity as that person's GP; and the reason a person's GP is not deemed sufficiently qualified by Student Universal Support Ireland to attest to the fact a person is estranged from their family for the purposes of assessing an application for a grant. [7265/14]
105. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 60 of 22 January 2014, the relevant legislative provision, circular or statutory instrument which stipulates that independent verification of estrangement for assessment of Student Universal Support Ireland applications may only be provided by the persons listed in this reply; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that SI 159 of 2013, section 21(3)(b), contains no such list of persons and states that a student may be assessed on their own means where it is established to the satisfaction of the relevant awarding authority that the student is irreconcilably estranged from their parents and that financial supports are not being provided to them; the reasons SUSI is not satisfied with evidence of proof of estrangement in the form of records of living outside the family home, letters from GPs, college counselling services or correspondence from other Departments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7226/14]
104. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason Student Universal Support Ireland will not accept the same standard of proof that a person under 23 years of age is not residing in the family home and is estranged from their family for the purposes of assessing them on their own means for grants that the Department of Social Protection accepts for assessing eligibility for social welfare payments. [7212/14]
103. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason persons aged over 23 years who have a gap of a number of years in their education are still assessed on their parents' income for the purposes of a Student Universal Support Ireland grant if they began their third level education when they were under 23 years. [7211/14]
102. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason married persons under 23 years of age who reside with their spouses in a separate home from their parents are still assessed on their parents' means for the purposes of Student Universal Support Ireland grant applications. [7210/14]
101. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if provision of evidence from a GP will be accepted as evidence of estrangement for the purposes of persons under 23 years of age applying for Student Universal Support Ireland grants based on assessment of their own means. [7209/14]
100. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 60 of 22 January 2014, the way a person under 23 years of age may prove their estrangement from their family in order to be assessed on their own means for Student Universal Support Ireland grant applications in cases where a social worker will not see them because they are over 18 years, a youth worker or family support worker will not see them as they have never been linked in to that worker before, and they are not in need of a Health Service Executive counselling service; and if he will list any other appropriate officers of the HSE who may be able to attest to a person being estranged from their family. [7208/14]
229. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Health the grades at which employees would be considered officers of the Health Service Executive. [7194/14]
77. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide an update regarding students of the two-year diploma course run by Trinity College (details supplied) who had previously received the student grant and maintenance payment but have been told they are no longer entitled to same and they must repay moneys received; the reason a change in the status of the course occurred; and if he will ensure that students who received grants and maintenance to do this course will not be forced to repay the moneys. [7112/14]
75. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will include in the new adult literacy and numeracy strategy being developed as part of the further education and training strategy the following elements: awareness raising of learning opportunities and support for greater engagement by persons with literacy and numeracy needs in FET; integrated literacy and numeracy into all FET programmes, thereby ensuring that relevant literacy and numeracy are developed as part of the subject specific learning; intensive learning programmes for people who are unemployed in the workplace and supporting families; blended learning and recognition of prior learning to acquire qualifications at NFQ levels 1 to 4; and an efficient system for evaluating, monitoring and reporting progress and achievement against national targets. [7073/14]
653. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the case of a child (details supplied) in Dublin 11 who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder two and a half years ago and has a disability, that they have been on an early intervention list for speech and language therapy but has not received any yet at Ashgrove House for over two years and that when they turn six years, they will not be eligible for this list; if he will personally intervene in this case to ensure that the child receives the therapy they are entitled to. [6913/14]
549. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she is satisfied with the adequacy of inspections and the standard of child care provided throughout the State; if follow-up inspections and sanctions were imposed on those who have been found to be in breach of the relevant regulations and guidelines during the past year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6380/14]