Steering Committee on Technical Education Report to the Minister for Education on Regional Technical Colleges

This Committee was established on 20 September 1966 to advise the Minister for Education generally on technical education in Ireland and, in particular, to provide the Department of Education Building Consortium with a brief for the technical colleges. This report from the Committee addresses the following aspects: the need/demand for technicians and skilled personnel; the role of the regional technical colleges; analysis of courses and student population; recruitment and training of teachers; organisation structure; accommodation needs (in the colleges, and residential requirements); growth and flexibility; and cost and time. Recommendations are made in relation to: the building program; the establishment of a Building Project Unit to be accountable for all school and college building work for the Department of Education; the establishment of Regional Education Councils with accountability for all education in each of the regions; and the establishment of a National Council for Educational Awards.

Joint Communique Under The Auspices of The North South Ministerial Council On Safeguarding Child Protection (PDF 28KB)

This Communication Strategy has been developed by representatives of the statutory sector and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) from the voluntary and community sectors from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland

National Council on Ageing and Older People - Annual Report 2008

National Council on Ageing and Older People РAnnual Report 2008 2008 was a year of change for the National Council on Ageing and Older People. In January the Government announced the establishment of the Office for Older People at the Department of Health and Children and that the Office would have a key role in progressing the Government̢?Ts agenda for older people. The decision provided that Council staff would be transferred to the Office and that the Council would be replaced by an Advisory Council. Although a sad day for the Council itself, we regard this as a significant step forward in bringing older people̢?Ts issues right to the centre of Government policy-making. Click here to download PDF 333kb

A framework for quality in long-term residential care for older people in Ireland / National Council on Ageing and Older People

In 1999 the National Council on Ageing and Older People commissioned a postal survey of all long-term residential care facilities in the country to determie: - whether facilities had quality initiatives in operation - providers' views and aspirations for future provision of long-term care - providers' views on the introduction of a national quality monitoring policy This report is the outcome of the programme of work conducted by the Council on the quality of long-term residential care provision for older people in Ireland. The aim of the report is to provide a framework for developing quality in long-term residential care settings with a focus on the well-being, dignity and autonomy of older residents.

OECD Thematic Review on Migrant Education - Newsletter No. 4 January 2010

The report Closing the Gap for Immigrant Students: Policies, Practice and Performance will be placed on the Electronic Discussion Group (EDG) on 12 February for countries to review the extent to which their comments on the first draft have been integrated.

White Paper on Adult Education Learning for Life

This is Ireland’s first White Paper on Adult Education and marks the adoption of lifelong learning as the governing principle of educational policy. The Paper reflects on the role of adult education in society, builds on the consultation process following publication of the Green Paper, and sets out the Government’s policies and priorities for the future development of the sector. It does not aim to provide a policy blueprint for the training sector given that this work is being advanced through the National Employment Action Plans and previous publications, and the work of the Task Force on Lifelong Learning recently established by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Rather, it seeks to ensure that there is a fit and complementarity between education and training provision, so as to ensure that learners can move progressively and incrementally within an over-arching co-ordinated and learner-centred framework.

Arts In Education Charter

The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht will introduce a Public Service Education Dividend (PSED). This will place new obligations on the Arts Council, on arts organisations and on individual artists in receipt of public funds. The Arts Council will ensure that arts organisations which it supports from the public purse include arts – in - education as part of their programme of work. All publicly funded arts organisations will be obliged to donate time per annum to a local education initiative. Individual artists funded from the public purse, including those in receipt of the artists' tax exemption, shall donate at least 2 hours each per annum to a local education initiative.

Report of the Advisory Group on Post Primary Teacher Education

The occasion of this report on Teacher Education is timely. The teaching profession is now confronted with major challenges. Schooling has changed very radically in the recent past. Other review exercises of the education system have taken place and it is a time when a new legislative framework, better accommodated to the diversity of the range of duties and responsibilities of the teacher and school, is emerging. It is anticipated that the Report will stimulate debate, secure a new platform for development and provide for a framework for teacher education models which is better disposed towards the well being of the profession and the service to society it wishes to provide.