Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Question 257: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the action she will take to implement the Government's stated pledge to radically reduce class sizes (details supplied). [6089/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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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. Today 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 greatly improved the services provided for children with special needs and those from disadvantaged areas. Under the action plan for tackling disadvantage published in 2005, there will be a reduction in class sizes to 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 in place in this school year, 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. I recently announced that I have secured sufficient funding to provide even smaller classes in our primary schools in the next school year. The Minister for Finance has committed to a further reduction in class size in the following year. Accordingly, over the next two years, the Department will put 500 extra teachers into primary schools to reduce class size and to tackle disadvantage.

The staffing of a primary school is determined by reference to the enrolment of the school on 30 September of the previous school year. The actual number of mainstream posts sanctioned is determined by reference to a staffing schedule which is issued annually to all primary schools. The general rule is that there is at least one classroom teacher for every 29 pupils in the school. Schools with just one or two teachers have much lower staffing ratios than that, with two teachers for just 12 pupils in some cases, but the general rule is that there is at least one classroom teacher for every 29 children in the school.

Next year this is being reduced to 28 children per classroom teacher and in 2007-08 it will be reduced to 27 children per classroom teacher. Departmental officials are drawing up the revised staffing schedule necessary to achieve this. Schools will be asked to use the extra class teachers provided as a result of the revised schedule to provide for smaller classes in the junior grades. In speaking about staffing in our schools, we have consistently said that priority will be given to children in disadvantaged schools and those with special needs. We have done this. In line with the Government commitment, mainstream class sizes are now being reduced.