Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 116: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a school (details supplied) in Dublin 6W will have to turn pupils away in September 2009 due to budget 2009; if he is making alternative provision for these pupils; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38229/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I understand that the Deputy is referring to a primary school in this instance. I regard comments being made from whatever quarter about schools turning away pupils as premature, alarmist and irresponsible. I can only conclude that such statements are motivated by a desire to create pressure for a change in relation to the decisions the Government had to take in relation to school staffing. I regard it as reprehensible that any school might seek to use children as pawns no matter how strongly they feel about the decisions that we have made.

Ultimately it is a matter for each school's Board of Management to have an enrolment policy and to then operate that policy in a fair and consistent manner having regard to the overall physical space capacity of a school. My Department has a responsibility to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking places. This may result, however, in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice. That is no more than a normal feature of the enrolment process in any community.

My Department will continue to ensure that those schools with the greatest increase in pupil numbers will still qualify for developing school status thus enabling them to get their increased staffing in September 2009 — a year in advance of other schools.

The Forward Planning Section of my Department is currently in the process of identifying the areas where significant additional school accommodation will be required at primary and post-primary level. Factors under consideration include population growth, demographic trends, current and projected enrolments, recent and planned housing developments and capacity of existing schools to meet demand for places. Having considered these factors decisions will be taken on the means by which emerging needs will be met within an area.

The demand for junior infant places in the area in question will be considered within this context.

What is not acceptable is that any school authority would in the coming year alter its approach to enrolment simply because it wants to pressurise the government or to give support to a campaign being conducted by a teacher union.

As I pointed out in the House last week the changes to the classroom staffing of primary schools reverts schools to the position that applied just over one school year ago. Schools are given teaching resources commensurate with their enrolment and under the staffing schedule schools with like enrolments are treated in the same way.

In terms of accommodating pupils I believe it is totally reasonable to expect schools to operate from next September no less favourably than they did in 2006/2007.

Any school acting dishonourably in this regard must ultimately answer to its local community and to the parents and children in that community in particular.

In terms of the staffing implications at individual school level, schools are currently returning data to my Department in relation to their enrolment as of 30 September. My Department has commenced processing this data although all schools have not yet made their returns. The allocation processes including notification to schools will commence early in the New Year. The allocation process includes appellate mechanisms under which schools can appeal against the allocation due to them under the staffing schedules. The final allocation to a school is also a function of the operation of the redeployment panels which provide for the retention of a teacher in an existing school if a new post is not available within the agreed terms of the scheme.