Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 282: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the primary schools in County Kildare which have the largest classes; her plans to address the issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8294/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The information requested by the Deputy is not readily available for the current school year. The system for allocating teachers to primary schools is based on ensuring an overall maximum class size of 29 pupils in each school. Where some classes in a school have class sizes of greater than 29 it is generally because a decision has been taken at local level to use the available teaching resources to have smaller numbers in other classes.

The Deputy should note that significant improvements have been made in this area in recent years. The national average class size at primary level is now 23.9, down from 26.6 in 1996 to 1997. The pupil-teacher ratio, which includes all the teachers in the school including resource teachers, has fallen from 22.2:1 in the 1996 to 1997 school year to 17.44:1 in 2003 to 2004.

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, to tackle educational disadvantage and to provide additional resources for children with special needs. Significantly smaller class sizes have been introduced in disadvantaged schools involved in the Giving Children an Even Break and Breaking the Cycle programmes, with approximately 47,700 pupils in 243 participating schools availing of reduced maximum class sizes of either 15 or 20 pupils per class.

In line with Government policy, the position will be improved further in the future within available resources and subject to spending priorities within the education sector. Priority will be given to pupils with special needs, those from disadvantaged areas and those in junior classes.