Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

Have the students or their parents been notified that they have lost resource teaching hours in recent months? Will these hours be reallocated from September in light of the fact that the Minister just stated no pupil will lose out under the new system? Many pupils have been contacted recently to tell them they will lose resource teaching hours.

What is the number of appeals in the new system? Is the Minister aware that her Department, based in Athlone, has been giving advice to principals not to bother appealing because the system will not be changed? I am disappointed the allocations were made at such short notice and so close to the end of the school year.

Does the Minister intend to make any changes to the system? Can she explain to me the position on a boys' school and girls' school in the same town, both of which are classified as disadvantaged and taking students from the same catchment area?

The boys' school was originally told a ratio of 1:80 would apply to it but it has now been told the ratio will be 1:135. It has lost out severely under the new system, yet the girls' school has gained and has a greater allocation than the boys' school. This seems to contradict the original intention behind the weighted system. Will these individual cases be considered?

Can the Minister change the system concerning circumstances where a school has a general allocation model with associated figures of 0.7 or 0.71 and 14 low-incidence hours, for example? If one combines these figures, one is dealing with more than one full teaching post, yet many schools have lost a teaching post and are receiving a temporary teaching post instead. It would be far more beneficial for such schools to have a permanent teacher.

I am also concerned that children with special needs under this system, especially those in the low-incidence category, are more likely to be taught by temporary teachers than permanent teachers. How long will temporary teachers be in the system? Is there a definite timeframe?

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