Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, to the House.

Colm Burke (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State. As I understand the current situation, once the pupil-teacher ratio is at or above 56, the school is entitled to retain or get a third teacher. I am open to correction on that. I further understand that there are about 20 schools which will lose a third teacher over the coming months. If the ratio was dropped to 53, that would not arise.

I have a personal interest in this matter as I started off in the same class in primary school as the current president of the Irish National Teachers Organisation, INTO. She raised the matter when I met with her recently and I agreed to raise it in the House. It needs to be reviewed. It is not easy to manage 55 or 56 pupils in a two-teacher school. There might also, for example, be one school with 54 pupils and two teachers and another up the road with 57 pupils and three teachers. That is causing problems in rural areas. I ask that the Department of Education and Skills give consideration to the matter.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Burke for giving me the opportunity to outline to the House the position on the staffing of small schools. I am pleased to inform him that the Minister has introduced a retention rate of 53 pupils for a three-teacher school for the coming school year.

The criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts are published annually on the Department website. 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 pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September.

The staffing arrangements for the 2015-2016 school year are set out in circular 0005/2015, which is available on the Department website. These arrangements include details of the implementation of two new policies which the Minister announced in February 2015, namely, improved retention thresholds for the second, third and fourth classroom teacher and the improved appointment and retention thresholds for isolated one-teacher schools.

Under these arrangements, the retention figure for a two classroom teacher school has been reduced from 20 pupils to 19. For a three classroom teacher school, the retention figure has been reduced from 56 pupils to 53 and in four classroom teacher schools, an enrolment of 83 pupils, rather than the previous 86, is required to retain the fourth classroom teacher.

The introduction of these changes means that schools with three teachers that had an enrolment of 53 pupils on 30 September 2014 will retain their third teacher for the 2015-2016 school year. Previously, such schools would have lost a teacher as the retention figure for the third teacher was 56 pupils.

In addition to the reduced retention figures, a threshold of 15 pupils applies for the appointment and retention of the second classroom teacher for schools situated 8 km or more from the nearest school of the same type of patronage and-or language of instruction.

The two new policies will provide some improvement to the staffing levels of some of our smallest schools. These improvements particularly recognise the challenges faced by very small schools that are more than 8 km from the next nearest school of the same type.This package of measures will provide rural communities with security about the future of their small schools, recognising the essential social function which small schools can play, especially in isolated communities.

The staffing arrangements also include an appeals mechanism for schools to submit an appeal under certain criteria to an independent appeals board. A school with four classroom teachers or less which is losing a teacher or failed to gain an additional teacher can submit an appeal to the primary staffing appeals board. Where such schools can provide evidence that the enrolment will increase sufficiently in the coming September so as to allow the post to be retained for the following school year, a classroom post may be allocated on appeal. The primary staffing appeals board operates independently of the Minister and the Department and its decision is final.

I thank the Senator again for the opportunity to outline to the House these improvements in the staffing schedule for small schools, which the Minister has introduced for the coming school year.

Colm Burke (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for attending and for his reply, which is exactly what I was looking for. I also thank him for the information and the comprehensive review of this matter, which will be welcomed by a number of small schools. I ask him to convey my thanks to the Minister.