Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 49: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the arrangements and procedures which his Department has in place to facilitate small primary schools in rural areas to engage in clustering arrangements in order to maximise the efficient draw down of facilities and resources from his Department; the procedures which schools who want to participate in a clustering arrangement should follow and the responsibilities, roles and tasks which patrons, boards of management, school principals, parents' associations and others within the community should adopt in order to maximise the benefits of primary school clusters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7925/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Clustering arrangements exist within the primary system for the sharing, in certain instances, of specific resources such as resource teaching posts and also rural coordinator support. While there are currently no formal arrangements for the sharing of general resources or facilities it is open to schools to enter into local arrangements themselves e.g. in relation to pooling of existing ancillary grants so as to improve their level of secretarial or caretaker provision. My Department remains open, of course, to considering any proposal from patrons or schools on other types of school clustering arrangements or inter-school co-operation that would result in improving the efficiency or effectiveness of existing levels of resources.