Michael Noonan (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 443: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the impact on staffing levels the budget 2009 announcements on education will have on a DEIS school (details supplied) in County Limerick; the steps he will take to ensure that the work of this school on behalf of disadvantaged students continues in a satisfactory manner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43554/08]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The main focus of Social Inclusion measures, deployed by my Department to combat educational disadvantage, will be to target available resources in schools included in DEIS (the Action plan for Educational Disadvantage). This approach is in line with the broad thrust of the recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General which are set out in his report on Primary Disadvantage of 2006, which recommended that the Department should focus its educational disadvantage measures on those schools serving the most disadvantaged communities. The measures and supports received by this school under the DEIS programme will not be affected by the recent Budget.

Specific information in relation to the detailed staffing allocations that individual schools will have for the commencement of the academic year 2009/10 cannot be determined until the allocation processes have fully concluded. There is nothing exceptional in this. The allocation processes include appellate mechanisms under which schools can appeal against the allocation due to them under the staffing schedules. This is particularly relevant at post-primary level where the appellate process considers in particular any specific curricular needs of the school concerned. At post-primary there is no effective system wide redeployment scheme at present and this can mean that schools retain teachers, though over quota, and in addition discrete allocations are made to post-primary schools for example to cater for pupils with Special Educational Needs and those with Language difficulties and these allocations can also alter the ultimate position of the school in relation to any over quota position.

Schools are currently returning data to the Department of Education and Science in relation to their enrolment as of 30 September. The 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.