Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 210: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if a school (details supplied) will retain its home school liaison teacher which it has since 2000, from September 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24277/09]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 211: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if it is proposed to reassign the rural co-ordinator teacher at a school (details supplied) to additional schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24278/09]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 210 and 211 together.

The school to which the Deputy refers is at present included in a rural cluster of primary schools. However, the school was also in receipt of a grant in lieu of Home School Community Liaison services under a previous disadvantage scheme. Under this arrangement the school combined resource hours with the unclusterable grant to provide a wholetime equivalent post in conflict the rule of the HSCL scheme which provide that coordinators should be deployed for full time HSCL duties only.

This school is included in the rural element of DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) the Action Plan for Educational Inclusion and as such is entitled to the services of a rural coordinator and not of a HSCL coordinator.

As a result of Budget 2009, rural coordinator services are being withdrawn from Non-DEIS schools with effect from 31 August 2009. Arising from this it was necessary to review the cluster arrangements for a number of rural DEIS schools. The rural coordinator service is now allocated to schools in line with their size and level of disadvantage. My Department is currently considering the most appropriate clustering arrangements for the school in question and five other rural DEIS schools in the area. All schools involved have been consulted and will be notified the decision on new clustering arrangements in due course.