Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is an absolute commitment in the programme for Government to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio over the lifetime of the Government. The Deputy will appreciate I cannot announce anything here in the Dáil. I have to go into negotiations in relation to the upcoming budget.

In the past ten years there has been a five-point improvement to the primary staffing schedule. In 2015, teachers were allocated to primary schools at a general average of 28 pupils for every one teacher. This is now reduced to 23:1.

Lower thresholds are in place for DEIS urban band 1. That includes DEIS plus schools. We have 17:1, 21:1 and 19:1 for junior, senior and vertical schools respectively. A three-point reduction in retention thresholds assists schools in retaining existing staff. As the Deputy knows, there are over 43,000 teachers employed in our primary schools. This is an increase of over 9,000 teachers at primary level in ten years. I understand the importance of ensuring that every child gets access to their special education teacher and all of the supports required. That is obviously ongoing work with me and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, in the context of this upcoming budget. I hope to put in place more measures to support our schools right across the education sector.

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