Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 111: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of whole school evaluations completed so far in 2006; the number made public; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34203/06]

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 564: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of whole school evaluations completed to date in 2006; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34443/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 111 and 564 together.

The publication of the first school inspection reports on my Department's website took place on 22 and 29 June 2006. A further tranche of school inspection reports will be published in the next few days.

The process of publication of a WSE report involves a number of discrete stages between the end of the in-school evaluation activity of WSE and the final publication of the report on the Department's website. Following the carrying out of the in-school evaluation activity a meeting takes place between the WSE evaluation team and the board of management, senior management within the school and the school staff. The main findings and recommendations arising from the evaluation are presented and discussed and the school is encouraged to address the issues identified. The WSE report then goes through a process of verification with the school for factual accuracy. The school is then offered an opportunity to make a written response to the report. The WSE report is then finalised, issued to the school, and published on the Department's website along with the school response, if any. In general, WSE reports are ready for publication within 70 working days following the completion of the in-school inspection activity. A whole-school evaluation is considered completed when the report has been finalised and issued to a particular school.

At primary level 122 whole-school evaluations (WSE) were carried out in the first half of 2006. 41 of these evaluations had commenced prior to 6 February 2006 and, in accordance with the "Publication of Inspection Reports — Guidelines", these reports were issued to schools but were not eligible for publication. 39 of these reports have been issued to schools. 81 primary whole-school evaluations were planned to commence on or after 6 February 2006. 36 WSE reports were issued to primary schools and were published at the end of June. Approximately 20 of the remaining 45 WSE reports from the first half of 2006 will be published and issued to schools in the next few days. At this stage 75 of the 122 whole school evaluations planned for the first half of 2006 can be considered fully completed having been officially issued to the schools.

At post-primary level 29 whole-school evaluations were carried out in the first half of 2006. 9 of these reports related to evaluations commenced prior to 6 February 2006 and were, therefore, not eligible for publication but have been issued to the post-primary schools concerned. 5 of the remaining 20 whole-school evaluation reports were published at the end of June. Reports on approximately 10 of the remaining 15 post-primary WSEs conducted in the first half of 2006 will be published on my Department's website in the next few days. The remaining WSEs conducted in primary and post-primary schools during that period will shortly complete all stages of the factual verification and school response processes and will then be published.

Overall 89 of 151 whole-school evaluations planned at primary and post-primary levels for the first half of 2006 have been completed and a further thirty evaluations will be completed in a few days. Looking at the full year for 2006 it is anticipated that WSE inspections will have been conducted in 228 primary schools and 57 post-primary schools. Some of the WSE inspections commenced early in the current school term in primary and post-primary schools will have completed all stages of the publication process before the end of this school term and will be issued and published by the end of December 2006. The remainder of the 2006 WSE evaluations will be published early in 2007.

Up-to-date information on the WSE inspections that have been carried out in primary and post-primary schools and the list of published reports are available on the website of my Department (www.education.ie) at any time. The availability of the reports will now mean that the school community can play a more informed role in the ongoing process of school review and development.