Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 624: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the way the appeals system will operate for schools scheduled to lose teachers or support staff as a result of cutbacks in the 2009 education budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46965/08]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 625: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Dublin 15 area has one of the largest immigrant populations of school-going age needing extensive language support and that schools in the Dublin 15 area could lose up to 75 language support teachers as a result of the education cutbacks announced in budget 2009; the way the appeals system will operate for schools scheduled to lose language support teachers as a result of cutbacks in the 2009 education budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46966/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 624 and 625 together.

It is open to the Board of Management to submit an appeal under certain criteria to an independent Appeal Board which was established to adjudicate on appeals on mainstream staffing allocations in primary schools. Details of the criteria and application dates for appeal are contained in the staffing schedule which issues annually to all Boards of Management and is also made available on my Department's website. The criteria are also available in Circular 0024/2007 (Appeal Board for Mainstream Staffing in Primary Schools) which is also on my Department's website.

The Appeal Board operates independently of the Department and its decision is final.

My Department will be advising individual schools in the normal way in relation to their mainstream staffing allocations. The preparatory work for this has commenced with the processing of enrolment data that has been received from schools. The staffing allocation processes including notification to schools will commence early in the New Year. In addition to the mainstream classroom teachers my Department also allocates teaching resources to schools for special needs and language support.

The budget measures will mean that the level of language support will be reduced from a maximum of six extra teachers per school to a maximum of two teachers per school, as was the case before 2007.

Nonetheless, schools that require language support will still be entitled to get it. We still envisage having over 1,400 language support teachers in our schools in September 2009 and up to about 500 other teachers in part-time posts. By any standards this is a very significant resource and the challenge will be to ensure that it is used to maximum effect.

As I announced on budget day we will also provide for some alleviation for the position of those schools where there is a significant concentration of newcomer pupils as a proportion of the overall enrolment. This will be done on a case by case basis.

The allocation process for language support teachers is an annual one and existing provision is not rolled over automatically. Schools will be applying afresh in the spring and early summer of 2009 for the 2009/10 school year, based on their assessment of the prospective needs of existing pupils and any new pupils they are enrolling. The position for individual schools will become clear at that stage.