Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The Department of Education and Science has published the staffing schedule for the 2008-09 school year. Given the increased enrolments in primary schools generally, the application of the schedule is likely to result in an increase of over 600 mainstream teaching posts for primary schools in the next school year.

Approximately 120 posts will be lost in schools that had fewer pupils enrolled on 30 September 2007 than on 30 September 2006. It is estimated that up to 50 of these posts might have been retained under a schedule that operated on the basis of a general rule of one classroom teacher for every 26 children compared to the basis of the current schedule which is a general rule of 27 children per classroom teacher. I am arranging to have provided for the Deputy a list of the schools that might fit the alternative criterion, if it had applied.

I caution, however, that the final position cannot be determined until the independent staffing appeals process that is available to boards of management of individual schools has taken place. Under this process schools can submit an appeal under certain criteria to an appeal board, specially established to adjudicate on appeals on mainstream staffing allocations in primary schools. Details of the criteria and application dates for appeal are contained in the staffing schedule. The appeal board operates independently of the Department and its decision is final.

The Government has made provision for approximately 1,200 extra primary and post-primary teachers to be appointed in the next school year. These include the net increase of circa 500 teachers referred to and others who will be employed in special education and language support posts.

Budget 2008 provided €4.6 billion, or €380 million extra, for teacher pay and pensions. This is a substantial level of additional investment in the current economic environment and reflects the huge improvements made in school staffing in recent years.

In the primary sector, approximately 6,000 more teachers are on the Department's payroll than in 2002. Extra teachers have been provided in the 2006-07 and 2007-08 school years to reduce class sizes. The programme for Government contains a commitment to provide 4,000 additional primary teachers between 2007 and 2012. With the extra teachers already put in place this year and those provided for in the budget, we are ahead of target with approximately 2,000 extra primary teachers to be delivered in just two years.

Over the lifetime of the Government, we are committed to providing more primary school teachers specifically to reduce class sizes. We will also continue our focus on measures to improve the quality of education in our primary schools to ensure increased resources lead to better outcomes for our children.

See this speech in context