Written Answers. - Parliamentary Debates - Houses of the Oireachtas

[Deputy Ruairí Quinn.]
Questions— 14 February 2012. Written Answers
Year Total Expenditure paid in Number of teachers Average payment per
the year
teacher
2010 1,319,244.43 1,134 1,163
2011 1,335,924.70 1,035 1,291
2012 to date 169,344.03 276 614
School Staffing
195. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills the way staff in Longford
Vocational Education Committee who are availing of the early retirement scheme are being
re-employed into the same positions on a part time basis; the number of these cases that exist;
the positions to which they relate; and in view of the cuts at VEC level, the budgets from which
these payments are being funded. [7567/12]
Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn): I announced measures in
November 2011 permitting post-primary schools to re-employ teachers who retire between 1
December 2011 and 29 February 2012 and who, immediately before their retirement, have
been teaching students preparing to sit the Junior or Leaving Certificate examinations in 2012.
Such teachers may be re-employed until the summer holidays for the teaching duties for which
they were timetabled immediately before their retirement.
In the case of the VEC referred to by the Deputy, my Department has been advised that
one teacher who availed of the early retirement scheme has been re-employed on a part-time
basis for 18 hours per week from 9 January, 2012 on a fixed term contract to the end of the
2011/2012 school year. Payments to any staff re-employed must be funded by the VEC from
its annual instruction pay grant.
Personal Vacation Days
196. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will consider
reversing the decision made by the previous Government to cut extra personal vacation days
to teachers who engage in voluntary overseas work. [7604/12]
Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn): A teacher’s entitlement to extra
personal vacation (EPV) days is on the basis of attending approved summer courses. My
Department has in place, a quality assurance system that approves all summer courses and
evaluates a sample of summer courses. This is necessary to ensure that the summer courses on
offer to teachers and which are eligible for EPV days, foster and facilitate quality learning.
As the Deputy can appreciate it would not be possible for my Department to quality assure
summer courses which are located overseas and therefore I have no plans to reintroduce EPV
days for these courses.
Information and Communications Technology
197. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide a
breakdown of the second level schools due to be connected to high speed 100Mbps broadband
under the national roll-out of high speed broadband in 2012, 2013 and 2014. [7614/12]
Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn): A working group comprising representatives
from my Department, HEAnet and the Department of Communications and
Natural Resources have recommended a strategy for the roll out of 100mbps to post primary
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