Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I take this Adjournment matter today on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. I thank the Senators for raising this matter.

The Minister is committed to providing information on the allocation of teachers to schools and as a new feature on the Department's website. The process has begun with the provision earlier this year of initial information on the allocation of mainstream classroom teachers to primary schools under the revised schedule for 2009-10.

In terms of the position at individual primary school level, the key factor for determining the level of resources provided by the Department is the pupil enrolment at 30 September 2008. The annual process of seeking this enrolment data from schools took place in the autumn and the data have since been received and processed in the Department, enabling the commencement of the processes by which teaching resources are allocated to schools for the school year that begins next September. The Department has written to the primary schools that are projected to have a net loss or gain in classroom teaching posts in September 2009.

As part of the Minister's efforts to ensure relevant information is openly available to the public, detailed information on the opening position for primary schools is now published on the Department's website. This provisional list sets out the details on individual schools that, taken collectively, are projected to gain 128 posts and to lose 382 posts, a net reduction of 254. It is the Minister's intention to have this information updated and ultimately to set out the final position when the allocation processes are completed.

The final position for any one school will depend on a number of other factors such as additional posts for schools that are developing rapidly and posts allocated as a result of the appeals processes. The operation of redeployment arrangements also impacts on the final position as a teacher can remain in his or her existing school where a suitable redeployment position does not exist. The final staffing position for all schools will therefore not be known until the autumn. At that stage the allocation process will be fully completed for mainstream classroom teachers and appeals to the staffing appeals board will have been considered.

I understand that the school referred to by the Senators submitted an appeal to the primary staffing appeals board. The board considered the school's submissions at its meeting on 14 May 2009 and has requested additional information before making its decision. Following this process the school will be contacted with the outcome of appeal decision. The appeal board operates independently of the Department and its decision is final. I thank the Senators again for providing me with the opportunity to address the House on this matter and to outline the current position.