Parliamentary questions

Defence Forces Reorganisation

Jonathan O'Brien

14. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Defence the resources he has provided for the re-skilling of members of the Defence Forces and if he will demonstrate that they are adequate at this time. [48461/12]

Defence Forces Reorganisation

Jonathan O'Brien

20. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Defence in the context of the reorganisation of the Defence Forces, the criteria for relocating a member of the Defence Forces from one post to another. [48460/12]

Teaching Qualifications

Jonathan O'Brien

77. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason the General Teachers’ Council of Ireland does not automatically recognise universities in the Six Counties as offering approved teacher training courses including colleges such as St. Mary's University College, Belfast, which are globally recognised for their standards of excellence in teacher training. [48835/12]

Teaching Qualifications

Jonathan O'Brien

78. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the paperwork the General Teachers’ Council of Ireland require when assessing degree holders who hold a B.Ed (Hons), from a teaching college in the North and who are applying to be registered teachers in the 26 Counties. [48836/12]

Teaching Qualifications

Jonathan O'Brien

79. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the co operation that exists between the General Teachers’ Council of Ireland and the General Teachers’ Council, Northern Ireland and if there are set protocols in place to deal with applications for teachers attempting to register in either jurisdiction. [48837/12]

Teaching Qualifications

Jonathan O'Brien

80. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will confirm that the cost of assessment of qualifications with the General Teachers’ Council of Ireland for a teacher registering from the North is €290; his views on whether is this an excessive amount to be paid by Irish nationals who have attended an Irish University in the Six Counties. [48838/12]

Teaching Qualifications

Jonathan O'Brien

81. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the general Teachers’ Council of Ireland view qualifications obtained from St. Mary's Teaching College, Belfast of adequate standard to qualify for teaching in the 26 counties. [48839/12]

Teaching Qualifications

Jonathan O'Brien

82. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the procedures the General Teachers’ Council of Ireland implement when checking a teaching applicant from the North of Ireland; if they communicate directly with their counterparts in the North to ascertain their qualifications, experience and references; the average turnaround for processing such applications and the efforts that are being made to ensure enhanced cooperation between the GTCI and the General Teachers Council of Northern Ireland. [48840/12]

School Meals Programme

Jonathan O'Brien

99. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide in tabular form the number of schools accessing support through the school meals programme. [48882/12]

School Meals Programme

Jonathan O'Brien

100. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide in tabular form the number of children receiving their school meals through the school meals programme. [48883/12]

School Meals Programme

Jonathan O'Brien

101. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide in tabular form the schools that have successfully applied for inclusion under the school meals' programme; and the number of schools that were refused inclusion in the school meals' programme. [48884/12]

School Meals Programme

Jonathan O'Brien

102. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Social Protection the annual Departmental spend on the 2011/2012 school meals programme. [48885/12]

Energy Conservation

Jonathan O'Brien

282. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to require all schools in receipt of capitation funding to implement targeted energy efficiency programmes to cut wasteful usage of lighting, heating and electronic equipment in view of the fact that existing voluntary and piecemeal projects show the potential to save 15-40% of schools energy costs within two years at most, using models and guidance provided by Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland but unknown to most schools; his views on whether such energy efficiencies could save up to €15 million a year of the €200 million cost of capitation funding, thereby reducing cuts to vital educational services by the same sum and thus make cuts that do not hurt; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47303/12]

Teacher Recruitment

Jonathan O'Brien

315. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will list in tabular form, the numbers of newly qualified teachers who have secured a full-time appointment on or after the 1 January 2011 and who are in receipt of a reduced salary scale and allowances. [47747/12]

Teaching Qualifications

Jonathan O'Brien

345. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide in tabular form the number of teachers working in the education system who hold a BCBA or BCaBA qualification. [48167/12]

Teaching Qualifications

Jonathan O'Brien

346. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide in tabular form the number of persons employed on the SESS Advisors Behaviour Team and the number of those advisors who hold a BCBA qualification. [48168/12]

Special Educational Needs Services Provision

Jonathan O'Brien

347. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he confirm that his officials received a submission from a person (details supplied) detailing a peer-reviewed academic study from Howard et al (2005) which demonstrated that for some children with autism, ABA has proven to be more effective than the implementation of an eclectic intervention. [48169/12]

Child Care Services Provision

Jonathan O'Brien

24. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the position regarding those children awaiting placement in high support or special care unit residential places; the steps she is taking to provide additional places so that waiting lists are a thing of the past or at least rare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46755/12]

Student Visas Reform

Jonathan O'Brien

8. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the progress that has been made in achieving the goal, as set out in the Programme for Government, to overhaul the student visa system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43109/12]

Inspector of Prisons Reports

Jonathan O'Brien

30. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Justice and Equality following the report by the Prisons Inspector, Judge Michael Reilly, on practices by some staff at St Patrick's Institution, Dublin, the interim measures he will put in place to protect their rights and enable appropriate rehabilitation. [46412/12]

Local Authority Housing Provision

Jonathan O'Brien

77. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the current turnaround times for vacant local authority homes and the average number vacant at any given time over the past 12 months. [46196/12]

Local Government Reform

Jonathan O'Brien

98. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will outline the delegation of powers to local authorites in areas of environment, water, foreshore, local or community development, roads or traffic, housing and energy efficiency (details supplied) that will take place; the way this delegation will take place; and when it will take place. [46074/12]

Services for People with Disabilities

Jonathan O'Brien

237. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills in relation to training in Middletown centre for Autisum Spectrum Disorder, if he will provide a breakdown of the number of people participating in each of the training topics provided by Middletown; the number of classroom hours of training in each topic per person trained; the details of the correspondence with the professional bodies who approved the training in each topic to ensure that international standards of best practice in the respective topics are met. [46101/12]

Services for People with Disabilities

Jonathan O'Brien

238. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder who have attended Middletown and the length of time those children attended. [46102/12]

Services for People with Disabilities

Jonathan O'Brien

239. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder that have been directly treated by staff employed by Middletown; the numbers of hours per child treated at the centre and through outreach by staff employed at Middletown. [46103/12]

Services for People with Disabilities

Jonathan O'Brien

240. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will define the term affected as used by Middletown in relation to its affect on over 400 children with Autism Spectrum Disorder; the way the affect on children attending Middletown is measured; and if he will provide a definition of the term trained as used in the Middletown Inspection Report. [46104/12]

Services for People with Disabilities

Jonathan O'Brien

241. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will confirm that the most common duration of course delivery for the 3,000 persons trained at Middletown is two hours. [46105/12]

Services for People with Disabilities

Jonathan O'Brien

242. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide details of independent reviews of the effectiveness of courses in Middletown in terms of their delivery of training and value for money and to provide a breakdown of the amounts paid to fund individual courses. [46106/12]

Teaching Qualifications

Jonathan O'Brien

243. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether short courses in a specialised discipline such as behaviour analysis, that are provided for continuous professional development for teachers does not equate to an approved qualification in that specialised discipline, especially when international standards of training exist for that specialised discipline for example the Behaviour Analysis Certification Board: www.bacb.com. [46107/12]

EU Funding

Jonathan O'Brien

39. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his Department have made any applications for Ten-T funding; and if so, for which projects. [45140/12]

Tourism Industry Issues

Jonathan O'Brien

50. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport having regard to the reduced detail and frequency with which tourism statistics are published by the Central Statistics Office, if his attention has been drawn to the importance of reliable and frequent data for policy purposes and also for the various agencies with regard to operational management; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45123/12]

Human Rights Issues

Jonathan O'Brien

2. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the continued human rights violations in Bahrain, particularly against medics; and the formal steps that he has taken to inform the Bahraini Government of its views in relation to these human rights violations. [45096/12]

VAT Exemptions

Jonathan O'Brien

81. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide a breakdown of the cost to the Exchequer should primary and post primary schools that qualify for the capitation grant be made exempt from value added tax when paying for service utility and service charges. [44968/12]

VAT Exemptions

Jonathan O'Brien

82. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide a breakdown of the cost to the Exchequer should primary and post primary schools that implement the DEIS’s recognised curriculum be made exempt from value added tax when paying for service utility and service charges. [44969/12]

VAT Exemptions

Jonathan O'Brien

83. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide a breakdown of the cost to the Exchequer should primary and post primary schools be made exempt from value added tax when paying for school text books. [44970/12]

VAT Exemptions

Jonathan O'Brien

84. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide a breakdown of the cost to the Exchequer should the 3,305 primary schools and 4,034 second level schools aided by the DEIS be made exempt from value added tax when paying for service utility and service charges. [44971/12]

VAT Exemptions

Jonathan O'Brien

85. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Finance if there are EU regulations that prohibit the introduction of amendments to existing legislation that would exempt primary and secondary schools from paying VAT. [44972/12]

VAT Exemptions

Jonathan O'Brien

86. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Finance if he will provide a breakdown of the cost to the Exchequer should DEIS band one and two schools be made exempt from value added tax when paying for service utility and service charges. [44973/12]

Higher Education Institutions Issues

Jonathan O'Brien

105. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the DEIS has considered increasing the minimum number of teaching hours for lecturers employed in third level institutions from 16 to 18 and the projected savings that could be made to the third level budget from this change. [44975/12]

VAT Payments

Jonathan O'Brien

106. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide a breakdown of the total annual amount of VAT paid by primary and post primary schools in the 2011/2012 academic year. [44976/12]

Capitation Grants

Jonathan O'Brien

107. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on implementing variable school capitation rates which reflect the annual maintenance and running costs of schools. [44977/12]

Higher Education Institutions Issues

Jonathan O'Brien

108. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the DEIS examined the benefits of introducing a third semester for third level institutions that would increase the teaching cycle from 24 weeks to 36 weeks a year and his further views that this would provide a much better training cycle for students and a possible 50% productivity increase with four-year degrees being completed in less than three years. [44978/12]

Higher Education Institutions Issues

Jonathan O'Brien

109. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if consideration will be given to introducing a more robust and transparent system of performance evaluation for third level lecturers that focuses on evidence of changes made in teaching practice and the establishment of specific teaching standards to be reached. [44979/12]

Third Level Staff Deployment

Jonathan O'Brien

110. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will consider implementing a review of the type of research output by third level lecturers; if he will consider introducing changes to the existing legislation that would mean that university staff would teach a set number of hours, unless they have a full-time research schedule, which is signed off by a high level in-house committee. [44980/12]

Fee Paying Schools

Jonathan O'Brien

111. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills the savings that would be accrued from ending State subsidies to Catholic fee paying schools. [44981/12]

Water Charges Introduction

Jonathan O'Brien

201. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he has considered exempting primary and post primary schools from paying water charges. [44982/12]

Water Charges Introduction

Jonathan O'Brien

202. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he has considered reducing the cost of water charges to primary and post-primary schools. [44983/12]

Health Services Expenditure

Jonathan O'Brien

290. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Health if he will provide a list of works paid for by the Health Service Executive on behalf of the Brothers of Charity Southern Services between 2009 and to date in 2012 [45153/12]

Public Sector Pensions Expenditure

Jonathan O'Brien

35. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if any currently serving secretaries general retain TLAC terms with regards to their pension provisions; if he will provide a list of those secretaries general; if he will provide the total expected cost to the Exchequer of the pension pots to be paid out to the former on their retirement broken down by annual pension payment for each, lump sum payment on retirement and the additional special severance payment of half a year’s salary. [43488/12]

Teachers' Remuneration

Jonathan O'Brien

38. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the way he intends to deal with the pay gap that has emerged between new entrant teachers and those appointed prior to his decision to withdraw all allowances. [43489/12]