Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 1149: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the overall reduction in teacher numbers at primary and second level for the 2009-10 school year compared to the 2008-09 school year as a result of the change to the staffing schedule; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29406/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I am committed to providing information in relation to the allocation of teachers to schools and as a new feature on my Department's website. The process has begun with the provision earlier this year of initial information on the allocation of mainstream classroom teachers to primary schools under the revised schedule for 2009/10.

To be clear there is no doubt that the budget measures concerning staffing will have an impact. There is simply no easy way to control or reduce public expenditure.

At the level of individual schools the changes in relation to the allocation of teaching posts will impact 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. Across the school system generally there will inevitably be an impact on class sizes and at post-primary level the changes will impact on the capacity of individual schools to offer as wide a range of subject choices as heretofore in future years. My Department will through the normal processing of examining applications for curricular concessions endeavour to ensure continuity of provision for those already preparing for the certificate examinations. The changes at second level are therefore more likely to impact on the range of subjects that schools will be able to offer to those starting the Junior or Leaving Certificate programmes next September.

The Deputy may be interested to know that information on the current position regarding teacher allocations to second level schools, whether enrolment related or otherwise, will be published on my Department's website in the coming period. My intention is that, just as is the case with the information provided in relation to primary schools, this information will identify the changed position for second level schools and VECs arising from the October budget decisions. The information will be further updated later in the year when final allocations are determined.

All the above allocations, primary and post-primary 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 the allocation of support teachers, additional posts for schools that are developing rapidly and posts allocated as a result of the appeals processes.

The final staffing position for all schools will ultimately not be known until the Autumn. At that stage the allocation process will be fully completed for mainstream classroom teachers and any appeals to the Staffing Appeals Boards will have been considered. The appellate process is particularly relevant at post-primary level where any specific curricular needs of the school concerned are considered. Also at post-primary there is no effective system wide redeployment scheme at present and this can mean that schools may end up retain teachers, though over quota.

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 1150: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of unqualified personnel employed at both primary and second level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29407/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The number of unqualified teachers on a regular contract of employment in June 2009 within the post primary sector is 53 and 377 within the Primary sector.

Schools may have to employ unqualified casual / non-casual teachers where it is not possible to obtain a trained substitute teacher for short term absences.

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 1151: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of special needs assistants who have been removed from the classroom in the past year or had their hours reduced as a result of the ongoing review of special needs assistants here; the breakdown by county of the changes to SNA staffing levels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29408/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that the total number of whole-time equivalent Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) employed in Primary schools in June 2008 was 8375 and in June 2009 was 8582. The total number of whole-time equivalent SNAs employed in Post Primary schools in June 2008 was 1826 and in June 2009 was 2014. My Department is not in a position to provide the information in relation to the large number of individual schools as requested by the Deputy.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) is responsible, through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), for allocating additional resource teachers and SNAs to primary and post primary schools to support children with special educational needs. The NCSE operates within my Department's criteria in allocating such support.

The allocation for any school and any adjustments to that allocation depends on a number of factors such as the number of pupils with care needs leaving, the number of new pupils with care needs and/or the changing needs of the pupils.

The Deputy will be aware that the NCSE has been requested by my Department to arrange for its SENOs to review SNA allocations in all schools with a view to ensuring that the criteria governing the allocation of such posts are properly met. The review is currently underway and it is intended that it will be completed during 2009.

It is open to a school or parent to contact their local SENO to discuss any special education needs that pupils may have.

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 1152: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the progress made in regard to the commitment given in the programme for Government to increase the number of primary teachers by at least 4,000 and the staffing schedule to be reduced from a general rule of at least one teacher for every 27 pupils in 2007-08 by one point a year, to one for every 24 pupils by 2010-11; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29409/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I have consistently said that the 2009 Budget required difficult choices to be made across all areas of public expenditure. These decisions were made to control public expenditure and to ensure sustainability in the long run. In this respect Education, while protected to a much greater extent than most other areas of public expenditure, could not be totally spared. This obviously impacted on the ability to follow through on commitments in the Programme for Government. The various impacts at school level were included in the Budget day announcements. Even with the budget measures in place there will still be a significantly increased borrowing requirement in 2009.

In relation to staffing, when the country was able to afford it we reduced the basis on which primary teachers are allocated to schools from being based on an average number of primary pupils per teacher from 35 pupils in 1995/96 down to the current level of 27 pupils. This is reflected in the improvements that we have made on class sizes over the years and these improvements reflect our commitment to education. The change to a new average of 28 pupils per teacher from September 2009 has to be viewed in that context. Although it reverses some of the progress that we have made in recent years I had no option but to curtail the annual increase in teacher numbers. The reduced class sizes for the most disadvantaged in our DEIS schools of an average of 1 teacher for every 20 pupils in Junior classes and an average of 1 teacher for every 24 pupils in Senior classes are not affected by the Budget decision.

While the budget measures will impact on class sizes it will be necessary in the more testing economic climate ahead for us to continue to target and prioritise our resources to maximum effect for everyone. While teacher numbers are important numerous influential reports have highlighted the fact that teacher quality is the single most important factor - far and above anything else - in improving educational outcomes for children. Ensuring high quality teaching and learning is a challenge and dealing with factors that inhibit it represent a challenge for the Government, the Department, school management and indeed the teacher unions.

In terms of the position at individual primary 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. 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 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 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 am confident that as the global economy improves it will be possible to build again on the significant achievements of recent years and do so in a manner consistent with overall prudent management of the Irish economy.