Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 282: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of schools that will lose a teacher as a result of the new staffing schedule in 2007/2008; and the number that will lose a teacher if no improvements are made to the class sizes in 2008/2009. [27932/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Mainstream staffing in primary schools is determined by reference to school enrolments on 30th September of the previous school year. The actual number of mainstream posts sanctioned is determined by reference to a staffing schedule which is issued to all primary schools each year. This is a transparent and clear way of ensuring that all schools are treated consistently and fairly and know where they stand. The schedule allocates teachers within enrolment bands and the current bands introduced for the 2007/08 school year are based on an average of 27 pupils.

Under a system that allocates additional teachers at different step points under a common schedule it is a fact of life that changes in enrolment can effect the mainstream staffing of a school. In any year, and not just this year, when enrolments are falling in a school this can result in the loss of a teacher. Equally when enrolments increase a school can gain a teacher under the operation of the staffing schedule. While some 120 schools will lose a teacher in the next school year compared to this year there will still be a net increase of some 500 teachers due to increase in enrolments. The impact of these additional teachers on class size in the 2008/2009 school year will be dependant on how they are deployed by the school authorities. Schools have flexibility in the way in which they assign pupils and teachers to classes and the Department does not allocate teachers to specific classes or age groups. Posts allocated on the basis of this staffing schedule are specifically for mainstream classes and should be deployed accordingly. School authorities are requested to ensure that the number of pupils in any class is kept as low as possible, taking all relevant contextual factors into account (e.g. classroom accommodation, fluctuating enrolment). In particular, school authorities should ensure that there is an equitable distribution of pupils in mainstream classes and that the differential between the largest and smallest classes is kept to a minimum.

The Programme for Government sets out the overarching policy position in relation to the provision of additional teachers and on reductions in class size over the life of the Government. The Programme contains a commitment to increase the number of primary teachers by at least 4000 and on that basis to make further progress on reducing class sizes. Budget 2008 provided my Department with €4.6 billion or €380 million extra for teacher pay and pensions. This was a very substantial level of additional investment in the terms of the economic environment on which the budget was based. That allocation provides for paying for over 2000 extra primary teachers more than the number in schools when the Government took office last Summer. It covers the additional teachers that went into schools last September for the previously announced reduction to a 27 to 1 based staffing schedule along with additional teachers this school year and in the coming school year to meet increasing enrolments, to provide for special needs and the language requirements of newcomer children. This means that in terms of the overall commitment to provide at least 4000 additional teachers the Government in its first two years in office will be well ahead of target.

All Programme for Government commitments to improve public services including those relating to class size are contingent on the economic and budgetary environment and the need for prudent expenditure and fiscal management. Even since the presentation of Budget 2008 last December there have been significant alterations in the external and domestic environment. In that context any reasonable observer would regard the fact that the Government has already taken measures that will see the allocation of over 2000 additional teachers to primary schools as a considerable investment all things considered.