Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The system would not have the capacity to introduce more than 500 teachers next year. That is generally accepted by the education partners. Those 500 teachers will be placed across all of the Government's priorities, namely, disadvantage, special needs and the reduction of class size.

During the past number of years, 4,000 extra teachers entered the system through enrolments, population and, particularly, in the reduction of class sizes and special needs. I and my predecessors identified special needs and disadvantage as the major priorities for this Government. That is why we targeted it in the way we did and through measures such as the general allocation on special needs, which allowed for 660 extra teachers last year alone, ensured we had more teachers in classrooms and schools.

Regarding second-level, the Deputy referred to the taskforce on behaviour. It is clear one could have no behavioural problem in a class of 30 and have a serious behavioural problem in a class of ten. The number of students in a class does not reflect discipline, control, respect or the relationship between the teacher and the students. Extra posts have been created at second-level, particularly in special needs and guidance, which I targeted at junior levels and those making the transition from primary to second-level.

The teacher allocation at second-level is extremely generous and the pupil-teacher ratio has reduced in ten years to 13.4. There is a teacher for approximately every 13 second-level students. The reason it is that low is because it must cater for the wide curriculum. An Irish class might have 25 students but a Spanish class might only have five. In ensuring different levels, such as foundation, pass and higher level, and a broad curriculum are on offer, class sizes are different at second-level. However, the pupil-teacher ratio of 13.4 is extremely generous.

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