Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

Achieving savings in the Department's budget has required difficult decisions. Despite pressures on spending, the Government has shielded to the greatest extent possible front line services in schools. The Government has and will continue to prioritise targeted supports for schools, with the most concentrated levels of educational disadvantage through the DEIS programme and action plan. More than €158 million is currently being provided by way of additional resources and supports for primary and post-primary schools, including DEIS. This is only part of an overall amount of some €700 million, which continues to be provided to tackle educational disadvantage across the full education spectrum, from pre-school to further and higher education. This includes schemes such as the school completion programme and disadvantaged youth, which now come under the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, and the school meals programme, which comes under the Department of Social Protection.

It is important to note that a key aspect of the EU-IMF programme of support and Ireland's overall budgetary strategy is a requirement to reduce the public sector payroll. This is a particular challenge for the education sector, considering that a third of all public sector employees work there. Furthermore, unlike in other countries, our school-going population is rising rapidly and places must be provided for the extra 70,000 pupils arriving in our schools in the next six years. Providing for increased enrolments is a key priority but making some adjustment to teacher numbers is unavoidable, given budgetary constraints.

The net impact on overall teacher numbers in our schools has been minimised to the greatest extent possible. We are conscious of the concerns of some schools which will be adversely affected by the withdrawal of posts under previous disadvantaged schemes, and with these concerns in mind we have made clear since the budget announcement that this matter would be managed as sensitively as possible. To this end the Minister, Deputy Quinn, has met school principals, teachers, parents and community representatives in recent weeks to hear their concerns and clarify the position of announced changes in the 2012 budget to posts allocated to schools under previous schemes to tackle educational disadvantage.

The Minister has held many meetings with members of my parliamentary party and all Government colleagues, who have performed an invaluable service in assisting him in developing an understanding of the impact of the proposed measures in these schools. It is in this context that the Department of Education and Skills has been directed to report to the Minister within the next four weeks on the position of DEIS band one and band two schools which currently have posts under schemes predating DEIS. That will done in the context of staff allocations due to issue to all schools in the coming weeks. We look forward to receiving that report and continuing the process of engagement with schools on the impact of the measures announced in the 2012 budget.

See this speech in context