Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this Topical Issue matter on behalf of the Minister for Education. I thank Deputy Connolly for raising the matter. It provides an opportunity to clarify the current position in relation to Scoil Náisiúnta Bhríde.

As the Deputy is aware, Scoil Náisiúnta Bhríde is an all-Irish co-educational primary school with a Catholic ethos. The current staffing is a principal, one special education teacher post and one part-time special education teaching post, with an enrolment of eight pupils in September 2021. The programme for Government contains a commitment to continue to recognise the importance of small schools. Small schools are highly valued in their communities in that they provide a vital link to local heritage and history, help sustain rural populations and often act as a link for sports and social activities. Coming from a rural background, the Minister is very much aware of the huge importance of small schools to communities right across Ireland. She has asked her Department to work with education partners to examine ways to support such schools in their communities and to ensure a more sustainable future for them. In general, small schools are considered to be schools with four teachers or less. A number of positive measures have been implemented to support small schools, including an improvement of one point in the appointment threshold and a reduction in the number of students required to retain a teacher, which was introduced in September 2021.

The current staffing arrangements at primary level operate on the basis of one teacher for every 25 pupils, which has resulted in the lowest pupil-teacher ratio ever at primary school. Budget 2022 further improved the staffing schedule by one point, which will bring the staffing schedule to a new historical low of one teacher for every 24 pupils in September 2022. This builds on measures in previous budgets, which have seen improvements in the overall allocation of teaching posts and specific targeted measures for small and isolated schools, as well as primary schools on our islands. Additionally, in August 2021, the Minister launched the small schools clusters action research project, an innovative research project which aims to encourage small schools in a number of clusters to collaborate and identify common challenges and trial innovative solutions. The Minister hopes the learning from this project will help inform the policy approach to supporting small schools.

In respect of school closures or amalgamations, the decision-making authority belongs to the patron of the school. Any proposal to close or amalgamate a school must involve consultation with all of the relevant stakeholders - parents, teachers, students and local communities - and follow decisions taken at local level. Such proposals must then be agreed with the Department. The Department has no record of a formal request to approve the closure of Scoil Náisiúnta Bhríde. Furthermore, the Department has been given to understand that the patron has not made any decision regarding the closure of the school. While there has been no contact between the school authority and the Department regarding the closure of the school, the Department has received an inquiry from the school authority regarding the process for school amalgamations. I can also confirm that Scoil Náisiúnta Bhríde retains its status with the Department and is participating in the Gaeltacht school recognition scheme, which provides all schools in Gaeltacht language planning areas with the opportunity to achieve recognition as Gaeltacht schools through the implementation of language-based criteria.

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