Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which he has raised, as he said, on a number of occasions. I am aware that a large public meeting on this topic took place in south Kerry last night, which was addressed by the president of the INTO and others. The Minister of State, Deputy Deenihan, has given me copies of the petition which was presented.

The Government recognises that small schools are an important part of the social fabric of rural communities. As someone who attended a small primary school, I am particularly aware of their significance to rural communities. Small schools will continue to be a feature of our education landscape. Somehow, we have to find a way to have an open conversation about how small schools, as well as other important social infrastructure, can be preserved and sustained in rural communities, in particular in isolated rural areas.

As part of the budget 2012 decisions, the number of pupils required to gain and retain a classroom teaching post in small primary schools was gradually increased between September 2012 and September 2014. The final phase of the budget measure took effect from September 2014, and no further changes were made as a result of the previous budget. That measure reflected the reality that small primary schools generally had better average class sizes than medium to large schools, and it has certainly put the staffing arrangements for small schools on a more sustainable basis when considered purely from the perspective of public finances.

For example, it was arguably never affordable to allocate a second teacher to a school with just 12 pupils, giving an average class size of just six pupils. That budget measure was applied to all small schools equally, irrespective of their location, ethos or language of instruction. An appeals process was put in place for small schools losing a teacher or that failed to gain an additional teacher as a result of the budget measures. I know that this appeal process was put in place after significant contacts between members of the House and my predecessor. This allowed small schools which were projecting increased enrolments in the coming September that would be sufficient to allow them to retain or gain a classroom post to submit an appeal to the Primary Staffing Appeals Board.

The staffing arrangements for the 2015-2016 school year, including the appeals process, will be published shortly. As I have mentioned, the budget which was passed by this House three months ago did not provide for any change to the staffing of small schools. My focus in budget 2015 was on obtaining the additional funding that was necessary to provide for demographic growth. For the first time in recent years, I was able to deliver an increased budget for education this year. That budget will allow us to recruit the 1,700 additional teachers, resource teachers and SNAs which our children need and deserve.

I was also able to secure the funding necessary to begin education inspections of early years settings, to reform the junior cycle and to continue funding the literacy and numeracy strategy which has delivered such great results for children throughout Ireland, but I could not secure the funding necessary for everything that Members of this House might have liked. That means I do not have additional funding to change the staffing of small schools or class sizes generally.

I also do not have additional funding to increase school capitation, restore guidance counsellors, invest more in higher education or any number of other pressing needs, but in the previous budget I did secure the first increase in recent years. I am determined to build on that again as part of budget 2016 and to see meaningful additional investments made to education spending. Of course, educational quality for pupils has to be the main criterion in any consideration of primary school size.

It is also necessary to consider the needs of local communities, along with wider social and cultural factors. How best to sustain provision for widely dispersed and small communities does present as a particular challenge.

In particular, we must look again at areas where school enrolment is declining but amalgamation cannot even be considered because there are no other similar schools nearby. That is of particular concern to Deputy Griffin.

A value for money review of small primary school provision has been conducted and I strongly believe it must be published to inform a reasonable and sensible discussion about how we can better support rural school communities. The review takes a comprehensive look at the many aspects of small schools, with the aim of providing useful evidence with which to inform future policy. I thank Deputy Griffin for raising the issue as I know he has a very strong concern in the area.

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