Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 433: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the staffing allocation to a primary school (details supplied) in County Cork for the 2009 to 2010 school year; and if an appeal has been submitted by the school authorities in regard to the mainstream staffing allocation. [12849/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The budget measures will impact on individual schools in different ways depending on whether enrolment is rising or declining and the degree to which any one school has more teachers than it is entitled to under the allocation processes. In terms of the position at individual school level the key factor for determining the level of resources provided by my Department is the pupil enrolment at 30 September 2008. The annual process of seeking this enrolment data from schools took place in the autumn and the data has since been received and processed in my Department enabling the commencement of the processes by which teaching resources are allocated to schools for the school year that begins next September.

My Department has written to the primary schools that are projected to have a net loss or gain in classroom teaching posts in September, 2009 including the schools referred to by the Deputy. As part of my efforts to ensure that relevant information is openly available to the public detailed information on the opening position for primary schools is now published on my Department's website. This provisional list sets out the details on individual schools that, taken collectively, are projected to gain 128 posts and to lose 382 posts — a net reduction of 254 posts. It is my intention to have this information updated and ultimately to set out the final position when the allocation processes are completed.

The above allocations are provisional at this stage and reflect the initial allocation position. The final position for any one school will depend on a number of other factors such as additional posts for schools that are developing rapidly and posts allocated as a result of the appeals processes. The operation of redeployment arrangements also impacts on the final position as a teacher can remain in his or her existing school where a suitable redeployment position does not exist. The final staffing position for all schools will therefore not be known until the autumn. At that stage the allocation process will be fully completed for mainstream classroom teachers and appeals to the Staffing Appeals Board will have been considered.

I understand that to date no appeal has been received in my Department from the school referred to by the Deputy. It is proposed that the first meeting of the Staffing Appeal Board to deal with appeals for the 2009/10 school year will be held in May, 2009. The closing dates for receipt of staffing appeals is 29 April, 2009. Appeals must be submitted to Primary Teacher Allocations Section, Schools Division, Department of Education and Science, Athlone, on the standard application form, clearly stating the criterion under which the appeal is being made.

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 434: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the situation in a school (details supplied) in Dublin 9 in which pupils have been left without an Irish teacher for 13 weeks; and if, in view of the fact that only seven teaching weeks remain in the school calendar, he will ensure that a replacement teacher is provided as a matter of urgency. [12862/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Teacher allocations to all second-level schools are approved annually by my Department in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment. In accordance with these rules each school is required to organise its subject options within the limit of its approved teacher allocation. The employment and deployment of teaching staff, the range of subjects offered and ultimately the quality of teaching and learning are in the first instance a matter for the Board of Management of the school.