Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 163: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of children of nine years of age and under in classes of more than 20 at a school (details supplied) in Dublin 15. [16774/05]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 164: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of children of nine years of age and under in classes of more than 20 at a school (details supplied) in Dublin 15. [16775/05]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 165: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of children of nine years of age and under in classes of more than 20 at a school (details supplied) in Dublin 15. [16776/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 163 to 165, inclusive, together.

The information sought by the Deputy is not readily available for 2004-05 as my Department is still collecting and finalising data for the current school year. Data for the 2003-04 school year is provided in the following table.However, the data may be out of date and may not reflect the current position in these schools.

Significant progress has been made in the area of school staffing in recent years. Over 4,500 additional teachers, including more than 3,000 resource teachers, have been employed. These additional teaching posts have been used to reduce class sizes, tackle educational disadvantage and provide additional resources for children with special needs. The pupil-teacher ratio has fallen from 22.2:1 in the 1996-97 school year to 17.44:1 in 2003-04. Average class size has been reduced from 26.6 in 1996-97 to 23.9 in 2003-04.

Significantly smaller class sizes have been introduced in disadvantaged schools involved in the Giving Children an Even Break or Breaking the Cycle programmes, with approximately 47,700 pupils in 243 participating schools availing of reduced class sizes of either 15 or 20 pupils per class.