Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 445: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the impact of the changes in the employment rules for teachers introduced in the 2009 Estimates on a school (details supplied) in Dublin 5; if he has introduced a system for reviewing the impact of these measures on particular schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13198/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The 2009 Budget required difficult choices to be made across all areas of public expenditure. Decisions were made in order to control expenditure and to ensure sustainability in the long term. In this respect my Department, while protected to a much greater extent than most other areas of public expenditure, could not be entirely spared, and I acknowledge the impact of funding restrictions in a number of areas, including at school level. However, these are the inevitable result of the challenging economic environment and the need to manage Exchequer resources prudently. These decisions included the withdrawal of teaching posts which have been historically provided under previous disadvantage schemes to non-DEIS schools and the increasing of the pupil teacher ratio across all second-level schools from 18:1 to 19:1. In the case of fee-charging post-primary schools, there will be an additional one-point adjustment to 20:1.

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 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.

In accordance with existing arrangements, where a school management authority is unable to meet its curricular commitments within its approved allocation, my Department considers applications for additional short term support i.e. curricular concessions. This concession is available as a short term support to enable essential curricular provision to continue. An application for curricular concessions was received in my Department on the 13th March, from the school referred to by the Deputy. This application is receiving attention at present and the school will be notified of the outcome in due course.

The allocation processes also include appellate mechanisms under which schools can appeal against their allocation of teachers. It is open to the school in question to submit an appeal to an independent Appeal Board which was established specifically to adjudicate on appeals on staffing allocations in post-primary schools. This Board operates independently of my Department.

Discrete allocations are also made to schools to cater for pupils with Special Educational Needs and those with Language difficulties for example. The main focus of Social Inclusion measures will be to retain resources in DEIS schools. There is a need to focus targeted resources on the schools in most need and 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 my Department should focus its educational disadvantage measures on those schools serving the most disadvantaged communities.