Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 351: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the pupil-teacher ratio class size at a school (details supplied) in County Kildare; her plans to increase same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40031/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The mainstream staffing of the school referred to by the Deputy, for the 2005-06 school year is a principal and 21 mainstream class teaching posts. This is based on an enrolment of 588 pupils at 30 September 2004. The school also has three learning support-resource teaching posts, two special class posts and two temporary language support posts.

It is open to the board of management of a primary school to submit an appeal, under certain criteria, to the primary staffing appeals board. The board adjudicates on appeals on mainstream staffing allocations in primary schools and operates independently of the Minister and my Department. The board's decisions are final.

Major improvements in school staffing have been made in recent years with the hiring of more than 5,000 additional primary teachers. This represents the largest increase in teacher numbers since the expansion of free education. The annual estimated value of the additional expenditure on these posts is over €200 million. Currently there is one teacher for every 17 children, the lowest pupil-teacher ratio in the history of the State.

Aside from decreasing average class size, the unprecedented increase in school staffing in recent years has also greatly improved the services provided for children with special needs and those from disadvantaged areas. Under the action plan for tackling disadvantage published earlier this year, there will be a reduction in class sizes of 24:1 at senior level and 20:1 at junior level in 150 primary schools serving communities with the highest concentrations of disadvantage. With more than 600 extra resource teachers put in place this term, children with special needs are getting more support than ever before. It should be acknowledged how much progress has been made in this area in recent years.

There is more to be done to reduce class sizes further. Recently I announced that I have secured sufficient funding to provide even smaller classes in our primary schools in the next school year, and the Minister for Finance has committed to a further reduction in class size in the following year. Accordingly, over the next two years, my Department will put 500 extra teachers into our schools to reduce class size and to tackle disadvantage. Schools will be asked to use the extra class teachers to ensure that there are smaller classes for infants and young children rather than for the senior grades.

In speaking about staffing in our schools, we have consistently said that priority would be given in the first instance to children in disadvantaged schools and those with special needs. We have done this. Now, in line with the Government commitment, mainstream class sizes are also being reduced.