Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 642: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the number of teachers allocated to a school (details supplied) in Dublin 12 for the school year 2010 - 2011. [30998/10]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 643: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills if her attention has been drawn to the teacher shortage at a school (details supplied) in Dublin 12. [30999/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 642 and 643 together.

The staffing schedule for the 2010/11 school year was published by my Department in March, 2010. The additional posts in the renewed Programme for Government enabled some improvement to be made to the staffing schedule. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level for the coming school year is the pupil enrolment at 30 September 2009. 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.

It is open to any Board of Management to submit an appeal under certain criteria to an independent Appeal Board. Details of the criteria for appeal are contained in the staffing schedule, Circular 0021/2010 which is available on my Department's website. Posts allocated on the basis of the staffing schedule are specifically for mainstream classes and should be deployed accordingly. School authorities are requested to ensure that the number of pupils in any class is kept as low as possible, taking all relevant contextual factors into account (e.g. classroom accommodation, fluctuating enrolment etc.). In particular, school authorities should ensure, as far as possible, that there is an equitable distribution of pupils in mainstream classes and that the differential between the largest and smallest classes is kept to a minimum.