Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 189: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the progress she has made in reducing the pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools as promised in the Programme for Government. [7352/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy should note that significant improvements have been made in this area in recent years. The pupil-teacher ratio, which includes all the teachers in the school including resource teachers, has fallen from 22.2:1 in the 1996-97 school year to 17.44:1 in 2003-04. Over 4,000 additional teachers have been employed in our primary schools since 1997. These additional teaching posts have been used to reduce class sizes, tackle educational disadvantage and provide additional resources for children with special needs.

In line with the programme for Government commitment, class sizes for the under nine's will be reduced still further, with priority given to those in disadvantaged schools.