Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for selecting this issue and I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Breen, for attending to deal with it. While the matter does not fall under his remit, I appreciate the fact that the is here.

This issue relates to Tisrara national school at Four Roads, County Roscommon. Due to new staffing guidelines, the school is in danger of losing a third teacher in September. Tisrara is a DEIS school and one fifth of its pupils are members of the Traveller community. While the schools has a current enrolment of 49, a threshold of 51 will apply for the retention of the existing third mainstream classroom teacher. Losing a teacher would be detrimental to the fabric of this rural school. A threshold of 17 pupils applies for the retention of the existing second mainstream classroom teacher in a two-teacher school. This means Tisrara, which has a projected enrolment of just under 50 pupils for September 2019, will be allocated the same number of mainstream teachers as a school with 17 pupils. It simply does not make sense.

Tisrara national school's parents' association has fought hard in respect of this matter and a petition from parents, school and community members in support of the retention of the third teaching post has been sent to the Department of Education and Skills. I urge the Government to re-examine the position. The extenuating circumstances of Tisrara suggest it should be permitted to hold onto its third teacher or given an extension or grace period in which to increase its enrolment numbers. The loss of a third teacher would be devastating for the community, particularly the children attending what truly is a fantastic school. It would be shocking. The school has 49 students, 13 of whom are in sixth class and will leaving in June. Ten potential new students are due to enrol for the September 2019-2020 calendar year. The community would be very disappointed to lose a teacher based on such a shortfall.

I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy Breen, has come across situations like this before. When Deputy Bruton was Minister for Education and Skills, he granted an extension period to a certain school in Roscommon following my request. I am very hopeful that in the circumstances I have outlined, we will be able to do the same in this case. It is much needed.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Eugene Murphy for raising this important issue. I know how important this school is to the Deputy. As he noted, we have all had many cases like this raised with us in the course of our political careers. I apologise on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy McHugh, who is attending a very important education conference in Washington. While it is important that he attend the conference, he sends his apologies to Deputy Eugene Murphy for not being here this afternoon.

I thank the Deputy for giving me an opportunity to set out to the House the position regarding the staffing of primary schools and, in particular, the staffing of Tisrara national school at Four Roads, County Roscommon.

As he is aware, the key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and the pupil enrolments on 30 September of the previous year. The staffing arrangements for the 2019-20 school year are set out in Circular 0019/2019, which is available on the website of the Department of Education and Skills. The staffing schedule operates in a clear and transparent manner and treats all similar types of schools equally, irrespective of location.

The appointment and retention ratios for small schools - namely, those with up to four classroom teachers - were increased in budget 2012 and improvements to the staffing of these schools have been made in recent years. Improved retention thresholds for second, third and fourth classroom teachers and the improved appointment and retention thresholds for two-teacher schools situated 8 km or more from the nearest school of the same type of patronage and language of instruction, or both, were introduced for the 2015-16 school year.

Budget 2017 contained two adjustments in respect of single-teacher schools. Where a school is the sole primary school on an island, it can appoint a second teacher. In the context of single-teacher schools with an enrolment of 15 or more pupils generally, a school can apply to the staffing appeals board for a second post where the single teacher has children across six or more class groups.

Small schools have also benefited from the improvements to the staffing schedule introduced in 2016 and 2018. Those improvements brought the teacher allocation ratio in all primary schools to the most favourable ever at primary level. The staffing arrangements include a mechanism for schools to submit appeals under certain criteria to an independent appeals board.

The school referred to by the Deputy, Tisrara national school, currently has three classroom teachers. The school also has a special education teacher. The enrolment required to retain the third teacher, as the Deputy has outlined, is 51 pupils. On 30 September 2018, the school had an enrolment of 49 pupils and is due to have its teaching staff reduced to two in September. The school submitted an appeal to the April meeting of the primary staffing appeals board. In its appeal, the school projected an enrolment of 47 pupils. As this projection is less than the required 51, the appeal was deemed ineligible by the appeals board.

As the Deputy knows, the primary staffing appeals board operates independently of the Department and its decision is final. I emphasise that the primary staffing appeals board will meet again in June, which should be noted, and again in October. Should the enrolment of the school increase to 51 or more, the school may submit a new appeal to the appeals board for the retention of the third teacher. I thank the Deputy again for the opportunity to outline this process in the House.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Some 20% of the current enrolment of the school and the enrolment for the foreseeable future will be made up by members of the Traveller community. Some 37% of the total enrolment of 49 pupils are in receipt of school support, which we estimate to be higher than the national average for a school of this size. I have checked the position in that regard. Some 16 pupils receive school support and two pupils receive school support plus. The Minister of State will understand all of that. I will not go into the various individual supports because I do not want to bring it down to a personal level but they are all there, they are a fact of life.

Classes comprising 25 or more pupils with diverse educational, physical, emotional and psychological needs place a strain on the commitment required for two teachers to manage and teach those involved. It is also worth noting that despite the needs of the school, only one special needs assistant has been sanctioned. That seems unfair and it increases the health and safety risk of the school.

These are unusual circumstances for a school. I hope that what was done in respect of a similar school when Deputy Bruton was Minister for Education and Skills will happen again. I was very grateful to the previous Minister for doing for involving himself, listening to the evidence and acting. The Minister of State will indicate that the process is independent of the Minister of the day. However, I hope the matter will be re-examined and that we will not end up in a situation where a school in these unusual circumstances would lose its third teacher. I thank the Minister of State again for taking time to listen.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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We have all come across cases of this nature in our constituencies and we have made representations on behalf of national schools that are in a similar position. As stated, there is a further appeals process in June and another in October. I encourage the board of management of the school or the local community to see if they can attract those extra students necessary to bring the school up to the threshold. I have advised parents and boards of management in my constituency to do that. It has worked and the schools in question reached the magic figure of 51. There has to be a cut-off. I understand from where the Deputy is coming when he states the school has a lot of issues and is, perhaps, a special case. However, the same case could be made for many schools in other rural areas.

In a personal capacity, I suggest the parents and the board of management get together and try to get the enrolment up to the magic number of 51. I accept that it is difficult, particularly in rural areas where there are probably neighbouring schools. If pupils are taken from one school and enrolled in another, it can create an issue. There may be parents who wish to send their children to that school. As the Deputy pointed out, it has a good reputation and is a three-teacher school. Parents sometimes like to send their children to such schools. That would be one measure to consider and in respect of which to make another appeal, if possible. I was disappointed to discover that the numbers have fallen 49 to 47. In a rural area, it would be much easier to attract two extra children rather than four, but I make that appeal to the Deputy. I will bring the sentiments he has expressed to the attention of the Minister, Deputy McHugh, and outline exactly what he stated regarding the circumstances that obtain at the school. Everybody wants to ensure that the existing pupil-teacher ratio can retained because this is probably a good school. The three teachers at the school are doing a good job. I will bring the matter to the attention of the Minister and we will see what can be done. There is a lot the community can do to see if it can increase the numbers in order to reach the threshold. However, I know that will not be easy. It never is easy in these circumstances but that is one aspect that should be examined.