Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 213: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of new posts created under the delivering equality of opportunity programmes in 2005, to date in 2006, the equivalent period in 2005 and a forecast for year ending 2006. [38409/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware that last year I launched a new action plan for educational inclusion, DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), one aspect of which will be more staffing for the most disadvantaged schools. The plan provides for an extra 300 posts across the education system over the course of the five year implementation period.

I expect that approximately 180 extra posts will have been created in primary and post-primary schools by the end of the 2006/07 school year in the new DEIS initiative in order to benefit schools from measures which range from supports for tackling children's literacy problems, reduced pupil teacher ratios, allocation of administrative principals on lower enrolment, measures to strengthen ties between the school, the family and the community and support services for the provision of continuous professional development for teachers.