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

This question indicates the number of different pressures there are on the budget and the different issues being raised in the context of any increased funding we will have. My focus in budget 2015 was on obtaining the additional funding that was necessary to provide for demographic growth. This funding is being used to provide 1,700 additional teachers and special needs assistants, SNAs, for our primary and post-primary schools in the coming school year. This comes on top of an extra approximately 2,300 teachers in our schools over the past two years.

The Deputy will be aware that I announced some improvements in the staffing schedule for small primary schools in February 2015. These are the only changes that I will be making to the staffing arrangements for schools for the 2015-16 school year.

It is a continuing improvement in our economic growth over a sustained period that will enable us to move to a point where we can look again at providing for additional teacher resources in schools which could bring about further improvement in the pupil-teacher ratio, PTR, class size and support for classroom teachers. In addressing the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, INTO, congress earlier this year, I made it clear that I personally believe that improving class sizes could deliver better outcomes, and that reducing class sizes will be a personal and political priority for me during 2015. However, that is a priority that will require negotiation in advance of the forthcoming budget.

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