Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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The next two items for discussion are similar and will be taken together.

Averil Power (Fianna Fail)
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I refer to the impact on disadvantaged areas of the education cuts included in the budget announced last week. I ask the Minister for Education and Skills to outline the rationale behind the cuts. It is extraordinary that the Government decided to target some of the most severely disadvantaged areas in the country for such savage cuts. It belies the claim made by it that it would protect some of the most vulnerable people in society from cutbacks. It is a great shame that it is undoing much of the progress made in these schools in recent years.

The Minister met some of the principals this week, including the principal of the school in Darndale where the junior national school has classes of 15 children. With small classes and excellent staff who are committed and hard-working, the school has made incredible progress in the past few years. The Minister is aware of the literacy programme. Within two years the school managed to increase achievement levels among first and second class pupils. It increased the number of pupils performing among the best in their age group from no one reaching that level to 20%, which is incredible. This is a positive sign for the future in a community that has struggled and taken a long time to make such progress. It is a shame to put this in jeopardy as a result of cutbacks.

The increase from 15 to 22 pupils per class represents an increase of 50%, an incredible difference in a teaching environment in which good results are being achieved. I, therefore, urge the Minister to re-examine this matter. I wonder if he was aware of the impact on individual schools when he made the decision. Had he seen a list of the schools involved and did he know that they would be hit this much? The school in Darndale is losing five teachers out of 16. I wonder if the Minister was aware the impact would be so significant for individual schools. The Taoiseach was unaware because when he answered questions from my party leader in the Dáil this week, he said existing DEIS schools would not be affected. I found this incredible.

There was a reference to legacy issues, which is an unhelpful term because it implies that the only reason teachers are in place is their positions were granted a long time ago and that they have not been making a contribution since, which is unfair. Darndale school has been making great progress, progress that the Department has recognised and lauded and which was held this up as an example for other schools serving disadvantaged communities that could get good results.

Did the Department carry out a cost-benefit analysis on the long-term impact of this? Whatever about it being socially regressive to take teachers out of these schools, it does not add up economically, particularly when we look at the long-term costs not just to the Department of Education and Skills but to the Garda budget and the Department of Social Protection. There is no economic rationale for it. Was the long-term economic impact considered? Apart from the Breaking the Cycle posts that are being taken away from those schools, other schools that have served as best they can areas that have traditionally not had a good educational achievement, such as Kilbarrack and Priorswood, will also be affected by the changes for special needs children and the disimprovement in the ratio for the general allocation model.

This is unfortunate and while I appreciate cuts must be made in the budget and our party accepts that €3.8 billion had to be found, there is a fairer way to do it and education should have been prioritised. I am sure the Minister fought as hard as he could for his Department but the Cabinet as a whole should see this as an area that should be protected with a view to the future of society. I urge the Minister to rethink this. I welcome the movement on the disability cuts, which were perhaps not thought through, and I hope this will be another area where changes can be made before long-term damage is done.

David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)
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Everyone accepts that we need value for money in the public service but that should not be used as a cloak to take teaching posts from some of the most disadvantaged schools in the State. I will outline the impact these cuts will have on schools in Waterford. A number of principals contacted me in recent days and meetings are being arranged with Oireachtas Members next week so their concerns can be outlined. One teacher working in an inner city school in Waterford city wrote to me to outline how the school had DEIS band 2 status for many years, with many challenges to deal with every day. The teacher thought it was a total disgrace that the Government was suggesting raising the pupil-teacher ratio by seven children per class. The teacher is proud of the children in the class and the school. That teacher did not feel the children would receive the same level of education if the ratio was adjusted. Making the change without considering the long-term effects on individual DEIS schools and disadvantaged families is irresponsible according to this teacher. Definitely, the teachers themselves can best outline the impact this will have on their schools.

The headmaster of St. Saviour's national school in Waterford, which I attended, also contacted me to say much of the good work the school has done over the course of many years in improving the reading, writing and numeracy skills of students, many of whom are from a Traveller background, could be undone because of the changes that are being made. In 2010, St. Saviour's had 27 teachers; this year it has 24. If the current criteria as outlined in the budget is applied to the school, teacher numbers will fall as low as 20, which will have an impact on all of the good work that school has done to improve the literacy and numeracy skills of students.

Every DEIS school in Waterford has already lost the resource teacher for Travellers this year, and five of them lost an English language support post. Every DEIS school will lose at least one concessionary post. I agree with Senator Power that describing these posts as legacy posts, as if they were needed in the past but are not necessary for the future, is regrettable and a cause of concern for many schools.

That is just the local impact. The national impact of this measure will be huge. A total of 38 concessionary teaching posts will be withdrawn from 15 non-DEIS primary schools that were previously in the Giving Children an Even Break programme; 102 concessionary posts will be withdrawn from 52 urban band 2 DEIS schools previously in the Giving Children an Even Break programme; 43 support teacher posts will be withdrawn from 48 primary schools, 45 DEIS and 3 non-DEIS; 45 concessionary posts will be withdrawn from 32 DEIS schools previously in the Breaking the Cycle programme which the Minister's party supported in Opposition; and 64 concessionary posts in 59 primary schools and 136 posts in 136 post-primary schools are being removed. That will have a major impact on education in the country.

We all accept times are tough and that savings must be made but to make those savings by removing teaching posts from some of the most disadvantaged schools in the country is the wrong move. I ask the Minister to provide information to me regarding the schools in Waterford to which I have referred on what assessments were carried out in those schools that could justify these cuts. When I talk to teachers and headmasters, they have evidence to prove they have improved numeracy and literacy skills of students but we are taking away the critical teaching posts they need to ensure all children get the best education possible. We are not giving equal opportunities to all children if we undo a lot of the good work that was done by providing those concessionary posts and other support and resource teachers who were in those schools. It is a retrograde step and I hope the Minister will review the impact this will have on each school.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The Government has prioritised targeted supports for schools with the most concentrated levels of educational disadvantage. These supports will continue to be targeted through the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools scheme, which is focused on 670 primary schools and 195 post-primary schools with particularly high levels of disadvantage. This scheme is designed to ensure the most disadvantaged schools benefit from a comprehensive package of supports.

The creation of a dedicated DEIS band 1 pupil-teacher ratio of 22:1 in the budget will secure a more favourable staffing allocation for these primary schools in comparison with the mainstream pupil-teacher ratio of 28:1. While the new staffing schedule gives greater autonomy to DEIS band 1 schools, the schools should continue to prioritise their staffing allocation to implement more favourable pupil-teacher ratios in junior classes, in line with DEIS policy.

The Government is also providing €13 million in enhanced funding for DEIS schools, €2 million in school book funding for DEIS schools, as well as a €26 million investment in the home-school-community liaison scheme. All of these areas have been protected from reductions in expenditure for 2012. In addition, €27 million will be provided next year for the school completion programme, a major component of DEIS, funded by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. Furthermore, DEIS post-primary schools will be targeted for additional support through an improved staffing schedule of 18.25:1, which is a 0.75 point improvement compared with the existing standard 19:1 that applies in post-primary schools that do not charge fees, or compared with the 21:1 ratio that will apply in fee-charging schools.

To ensure fairness in the distribution of resources available under the DEIS plan, it is no longer possible to allow some schools to retain legacy posts on a concessionary basis that predate the introduction of the DEIS scheme. As a result, a decision has been taken to withdraw 428 posts from earlier disadvantage programmes and schemes in 270 primary schools and 163 post-primary schools that exceed what equivalent schools are entitled to under DEIS or to which non-DEIS schools are not entitled.

I am aware that some schools will be particularly impacted by the withdrawal of the legacy disadvantage posts. I met a group of school principals on Tuesday so I could listen directly to their concerns about the impact of this measure on their schools. Consequently, the Department will hold a number of teaching posts in reserve to reduce the impact of changes to schools most acutely affected.

As part of the alleviation measures, DEIS band 1 junior schools will be placed on a staffing schedule based on an average of one teacher for 20 pupils. A further 32 schools that have legacy posts that provided for one teacher for every 15 pupils in junior classes only will now have a staffing schedule that operates on the basis of an average of one teacher for 18 junior pupils.

The special position of DEIS schools will also be recognised in adjustments to the general allocation model, which is used to allocate learning and language support teaching posts to schools. The Department is not in a position at present to give details as to how this measure will affect individual schools, including schools referred to by the Senator. In addition to the budget measures, consideration must be given to the effect of increases and decreases in enrolment on schools' staffing entitlements annually.

All schools will be notified in January 2012, three months earlier than normal, of their staffing entitlements under the new arrangement, including any alleviation measures that may apply. This will allow schools to plan for the school year beginning in September.

Averil Power (Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge the Minister has stated he intends to put in place some alleviation measures. However, I do not understand how he can stand over these changes in general. There is a need to simply reverse them altogether. Again, I ask whether the long-term cost of this measure was considered, not simply in the departmental budget but across Government expenditure as a whole. Time still remains for the Minister to reverse this decision and I hope he will. I acknowledge he has met the principals who have put the case to him but I genuinely fail to discern how he can stand over the measure. I again stress my request to the Minister to reverse this decision because the long-term impact on the most disadvantaged areas will be phenomenal. In the current environment, these are the people who should be protected the most, rather than being targeted. The Minister referred to fairness in his response but I fail to see how anyone could consider this measure to be fair.

David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)
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In his response, the Minister stated the Department would hold in reserve a number of teaching posts to reduce the impact of changes on schools most acutely affected. While I welcome and support this measure, the Minister should replace the word "reserve" with the word "replace", which is what is necessary. As for the statement he made that consideration must be given to the effect of increases and decreases in enrolment on schools' staffing entitlement annually, I will cite the example of St. Saviour's school, which potentially will experience a fall in teacher numbers from 24 to 20. In 2010, the aforementioned school had 310 pupils, while in 2012, it will have 318 pupils. In other words, it will have more pupils but four fewer teachers. Moreover, the school had 27 teachers in 2010. Obviously, to go from 27 to 20 teachers will have an impact on that school. This is an example of one school in Waterford but, unfortunately, many schools in this State will suffer a similar fate. I echo the hope expressed by the previous Senator that the decision will be reversed and not simply reviewed by the Minister.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I have heard what the two Senators have said. The Department will make contact with all the schools affected by these decisions early in the new year. There will be an additional three months in which to meet each school to go through in detail the reason it as a DEIS school has additional resources, when other DEIS schools in a similar category have fewer resources. The Department will consider ways in which there can be an equalisation within this category. Otherwise, many DEIS schools will lack the resources possessed by the schools in question, which is inherently unfair. As resources are scarce, they must be applied as fairly and as equally as possible. The Department will contact the schools directly to ensure the facts it has in its records tally with those on the ground in those schools.