Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

Not surprisingly, given the extent of the programme, a number of schools have appealed their exclusion from the programme or the decision to designate them band two or band one status. Approximately 350 schools have appealed, of which 100 were second level.

Association is not as important in respect of primary students graduating to secondary school because account is not being taken of cross-sectoral issues and second level students may be drawn from a wide area. However, the Department is aware of cases in which boys from a family attend band one schools while their sisters attend undesignated schools. The programme does not take account of the geographical base because if two schools in a town are in the programme while the third is not, that does not mean the latter is disadvantaged.

An additional €40 million will be spent on the programme and the funding will be front-loaded over the first couple of years. Thus, for example, the extra teaching staff needed to reduce pupil-teacher ratios in the most disadvantaged schools to 20:1 and 24:1 will be available from September. Any band one schools which were not previously designated as disadvantaged will receive resource teachers on an 80:1 basis. Teachers for home-school-community liaison will also be appointed this year. The early childhood element of the programme is being developed by the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy Brian Lenihan, and will be included next year. I will revert to Deputy O'Sullivan with the exact figures early next term.

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