Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to discuss the new regulations on allocation of resource hours and teachers in primary schools.

Investment in education is critically important, particularly at primary level. The education that children receive in their formative years is the foundation block for their future. While I recognise in the current economic environment that the Minister has to juggle scarce resources with an ever decreasing budget, it is important that we continue to provide a comprehensive support network to ensure no child is left behind in our education system. We have made considerable progress in reducing the barriers to education for all children and the benefits are tangible. This is recognised in the OECD 2012 report on equity and quality in education. However, the report also warns that there is still room for improvement. In reading, almost 17.2% of students in Ireland performed at below level two on PISA in 2009, compared similarly to the OECD average of 18.8%.

Despite our economic circumstances we need to continue our efforts to ensure that children leaving school are better equipped to secure employment opportunities and to reduce the number of children opting out of the education system at an early stage. Shortly before the Minister announced the teaching allocations for September 2012, I attended a public meeting in Ennis organised by the INTO which was attended by more than 600 parents, teachers and members of the local community. The meeting was very well organised and I listened attentively to the genuine concerns that were raised. I assured those present that I would bring their concerns to the Minister's attention.

There is widespread concern about the future of small schools. As someone who attended a small school which closed in the 1970s, I recognise the value and importance of small schools to their communities. I will be visiting a number of smaller schools over the next several weeks to discuss the situation at first hand.

I welcome the decision by the Minister to retain the 235 legacy posts in DEIS schools and I was glad to hear that two posts under threat in Kilrush will now be retained.

The biggest issue that has been raised with me since the teaching allocations were announced is the combining of learning support and language support, and the fact that schools are no longer able to combine resource hours with GAM hours. This is posing considerable difficulties for schools, particularly rural schools, with the fear that teachers will now spend more time travelling the roads than teaching in the class room, particularly given that a base school will now be required to have at least 15 RT hours to hold its base school status. I cite the example of Kilshanny national school, which is a base school in north Clare. In order to retain the resource teacher, it has formed a cluster with neighbouring schools in Doolin and Lisdoonvarna. While individually, Kilshanny does not have the 15 hours which is now required, collectively they have 24 hours between the three schools. The same situation arises in Moyasta national school which is another base school in west Clare and which also has a satisfactory arrangement in place with other local schools in the vicinity.

For many schools the problems are typical to those of Scoil na Realt in Kilkee which has an allocation of 20 hours. Instead of having two teachers to cover its needs, it might need to employ an additional teacher for a few hours which it will find virtually impossible given that the majority of these schools are in rural areas. If a school has an allocation of five RT hours and no school cluster available, what will happen? The majority of schools have very satisfactory systems in place and have already formed clusters with other schools close by which is working very well for them. The difficulty the new regulation poses is that they fear that there will be more teachers on the road than in the classroom, thereby losing valuable time with the children. At the moment, the teachers who are travelling do so during break and lunch times with no disruption caused. However, if they have to travel further afield, there will be some impact.

I seek an update on learning support and resource teachers' hours. I hope the Minister will meet representatives of the schools concerned in order to reach a satisfactory, cost-effective solution with the least disruption.

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