Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)

I respected every speaker on the other side of the House. I did not interrupt and I seek the same respect.

We in this House are aware that the mainstream staffing of a primary school is determined by reference to the enrolment of the school on 30 September of the previous school year. In any year, not just this year, when enrolments are falling in a school this can result in the loss of a teacher. Equally, when enrolments increase a school can gain a teacher under the operation of the staffing schedule.

While approximately 120 schools will lose a teacher in the next school year compared to this year, there will still be a net increase of approximately 500 teachers. The reason for this is that five times as many schools are expected to employ an additional teacher due to an increase in enrolments. An important consideration with regard to the staffing allocations for schools is that schools should be treated in an equitable manner. The staffing schedule should operate in a manner that treats schools in like circumstances equally.

I am aware that the Opposition has put a particular focus on those schools that will lose a teacher in the coming year simply because the total enrolment at the school on which the teacher allocation is based is one pupil fewer. Under a system that allocates additional teachers at different step points under a common schedule, it is a fact of life that a single pupil change in enrolment can cause a school to lose or gain a teacher. In recent years, when improvements were being made to the staffing schedule it was also the case that there were winners and losers depending on individual enrolment profiles.

It is opportunistic of Deputies on the benches opposite to argue for special treatment for some schools.

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