Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On the matter of the provision of additional resources in schools, especially for leaving certificate students, it must be acknowledged that we were more cognisant of that issue as we moved forward in our planning this year. More than 1,000 additional posts were made available for second level schools. That has been a major increase in support in our schools.

On teachers being overburdened and potentially having to deal with a cohort of students wishing to take the written exams in June and another cohort opting for the accredited grades process, we were mindful of trying to accommodate both those groups within a class. That is to take nothing away from the superb efforts made by teachers via remote learning and the huge demands now being placed on teachers in person. Operating in a Covid-19 environment is difficult; I fully accept that.

In an effort to accommodate that, in the case of the accredited grades process, estimated marks and all associated information will not be uploaded by teachers until quite significantly into the month of May. That will afford students the opportunity to continue their learning, whether they are opting for the written examinations in June or the accredited grades process, and for teachers to continue their teaching. There will not be a conflict in terms of the need for students to be wholly involved in the learning processes within the classroom. That accommodation of extending the date for the provision of estimated grades as late as possible is very helpful.

Regarding the issues of funding set out in the committee's report, it is important to acknowledge that significant capitation funding has gone into schools over the past two years or so. There are two types of capitation funding, namely, funding for the day-to-day running of schools and the ancillary grant. Last year, there was a 2.5% increase in the capitation budget, which followed a 5% increase in 2019. In addition to that increase, significant funding was poured into schools to cover all the additional measures that are required this year in the context of the Covid-19 crisis. That is necessary to ensure that certain schools would not be at a disadvantage and that all of them would be able to meet the challenge of the crisis equally. It is significant funding, as I said, and includes €56 million made available for PPE, hand sanitiser and so on and €34.7 million for enhanced cleaning in schools.

In terms of the disparity the Deputy mentioned between primary and post-primary schools, it is self-evident that there is a very definite difference between primary schools and second level on a unit base level, in that post-primary school buildings are larger and have a smaller pupil-teacher ratio and more specialist rooms. There is a higher cost at post-primary for heating, lighting, cleaning etc. The disparity that exists reflects all of those specific issues.

On the question of the need for additional assistant principal I, AP1, posts, an announcement was made yesterday regarding posts within the DEIS scheme, where the threshold requirement for the appointment of a deputy principal has reduced from 700 pupils to 600. That is a very positive step forward for DEIS schools. The provision of leadership posts and posts of responsibility in schools is kept under constant review and is regularly the subject of discussions with school staff and representatives. We will continue to do that and, as I said, we have made significant strides in regard to DEIS schools.