Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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This is the time at which schools are informed that they may or may not lose teachers. In areas of disadvantage in Dublin where pupil numbers may be declining and rising elsewhere there are inevitable problems. St. Joseph's is the local primary school in East Wall and it has experienced considerable difficulties in this disadvantaged area. Much of the development which has taken place in the area, particularly in the docklands, has bypassed the school. It is only now, under pressure, that the docklands developers have acted on the commitment they made ten years ago to provide the infrastructure and development to bring about an uplift and rejuvenation to the community in conjunction with the local authority. This development is beginning to come on stream but, in the meantime, the school and its teachers have been informed that it will lose two teachers because of the decline in numbers. The Government's intention is to deprive the school of those two teachers.

My argument is that the school should retain those two teachers for a number of reasons. First, the loss of teachers to the school will be debilitating and unsatisfactory for staff, students, parents and the community in general. Second, enormous development is taking place in the general neighbourhood. Last week, the Taoiseach launched 75 social and affordable houses down the road which will be occupied by young families. The docklands developers have a commitment to develop 1,200 social and affordable houses in the next couple of years, all of which will be part of the parish of East Wall. At last the development is taking shape and there will be a lot of new blood in the area and young families with school-going children. However, the danger is that, in this interim limbo period, the school could lose the necessary teachers. The classes could double in size in some cases and become mixed. As a result, parents with children in the school may vote with their feet and send their children to other schools where the pupil-teacher ratio is better.

This is a serious situation which can only get worse if these two teachers are lost. If the school was part of Breaking the Cycle — it was not included in the pilot scheme — it would have a pupil-teacher ratio of 15:1. Its ratio is far higher and teachers in the school will have to teach classes where two grades are mixed together, which is not sustainable. The school will be in serious jeopardy if those two teachers are lost.

An appeal has been made but those appeals are not decided until mid-summer, when the Dáil is not sitting and there are no politicians around. The Minister for Education and Science should take into consideration the enormous development taking place in the area. East Wall was an isolated community but it is about to become a burgeoning area which desperately needs a primary school. It will have more children than it can cope with in the years to come and it would be a shame if the school's ability to go forward was undermined by the loss of two teachers.

Noel Treacy (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the matter and for giving me an opportunity to outline the position of the Department of Education and Science.

The mainstream staffing of a primary school is determined by reference to the enrolment for the school on 30 September of the previous year. The number of mainstream posts is determined by reference to a staffing schedule which is finalised for a particular school year following discussions with the education partners. The staffing schedule is set out in a circular which issues from the Department to all primary school boards of management. Accordingly, all boards are aware of the staffing position for their school in any school year.

The staffing schedule for the coming school year, 2004-05, is outlined in circular 03/04 of the Department of Education and Science, which issued to all primary schools in April and is also available on the Department's website. Mainstream staffing of the school referred to by the Deputy for the current school year is a principal and eight mainstream class teachers based on the enrolment of 220 pupils on 30 September 2002. The school also has the services of a learning support teacher, a resource teacher, two posts catering for educational disadvantage and a shared home school liaison teacher.

Based on an enrolment of 172 pupils on 30 September 2003, the mainstream staffing for the school year 2004-05 will be a principal and five mainstream class teachers. The school also fulfils the criterion for appointment of an administrative principal based on staffing of a principal plus nine teachers when all posts are counted. In such instances a permanent teacher may be appointed to replace the principal. This will facilitate a staffing of a principal and six mainstream class teachers and the net loss of posts as a consequence of applying the staffing schedule is two mainstream posts. There are no plans to adjust the additional posts allocated to the school under various support schemes, so they will stand.

To ensure openness and transparency in the system an independent appeals board is now in place to decide on any appeals. The criteria under which an appeal can be made are set out in Department's primary circular 19/02 which is also available on the Department's website. The appeals board will meet shortly to consider appeals on the mainstream teaching allocation to schools for the 2004-05 school year. The House will appreciate it is not appropriate for the Minister for Education and Science to intervene in the operation of an independent appeals board. I thank the Deputy once again for raising the matter in this House.