Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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33. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which he and his Department continue to address the issue of class sizes and temporary school structures throughout County Kildare and nationwide in respect of primary and post-primary schools; the extent to which he expects class sizes and pupil-teacher ratios to improve, arising from the capital programme while at the same time meeting ongoing demographic challenges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10417/17]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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My question relates to the extent to which the Minister and his Department can deal with the overcrowding, class sizes and pupil-teacher ratios, while at the same time meeting the challenges of ongoing demographic factors in Kildare and throughout the country.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, my Department consistently monitors demographics to identify where additional school places will be required. The six-year programme has building projects for these areas, including Kildare, where 29 major capital projects are being progressed in addition to more than 50 smaller-scale projects that have been approved for devolved funding under my Department’s additional accommodation scheme. My Department has provided me with the details of these projects which I am making available to the Deputy.

Over the lifetime of my Department's capital programme, it is also my intention to replace all purchased temporary accommodation with permanent accommodation where the need is established. To enable this development, my Department will carry out an assessment of the number of prefabs being used in schools to deliver the curriculum. This will also determine whether individual prefabs need to be replaced in the context of the long-term accommodation needs of each individual school. When completed, this assessment will quantify the number of prefabs to be replaced.

Budget 2016 provided for some 2,260 additional teaching posts in our primary and post-primary schools for this year and 2,400 will be provided for next year. These posts will provide an improvement in the pupil and staff ratio at primary level. They will improve leadership and guidance services will be restored.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his comprehensive reply. I wish to know the extent to which he expects to be in a position to accommodate the needs of pupils with special needs in schools during the course of the period in question and to what extent he expects to see an improvement in the pupil-teacher ratio in line with the reply he has provided.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The number of children in ASD classes has increased by 100% in the past five years. We have increased the number from 500 to over 1,000. We have increased the number of resource teachers who are focused on the needs of children with learning difficulties and special needs by 41%. There is a significant investment in this area. This year we are introducing a new model for the allocation of resource teaching, which will be fairer, will give schools more autonomy and will not require very expensive diagnostic tests to be provided.

I am confident we will see steady improvement, although it is obviously conditional on the economy continuing to perform and resources becoming available.