Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 21: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the details of the pay savings and administrative efficiencies to lead to savings of €64 million in 2011 and €160 million in a full year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47409/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The following is a breakdown of pay savings and other administrative efficiencies which will amount to €64 million in savings in 2011, as recently announced in the context of the Budget:

Savings in the region of €24 million will be achieved by reducing teacher numbers through a combination of measures. These measures will lead to a deferral of 150 extra posts and to a reduction of up to approximately 1,200 posts from September 2011 (approximately 700 primary and 500 post-primary posts) which, however, will be partly offset by the addition of an estimated 875 new posts due to demographics.

The measures to reduce teacher posts include: o Deferral of the provision of 150 extra teachers originally planned to be allocated at primary and post-primary level in September 2011; o Changing the existing favourable pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) to the standard PTR for the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP). o Standardising the staffing schedule for Gaelscoileanna to the same that operates for other ordinary national schools o Withdrawal of Resource Teachers for Travellers posts at primary level so that educational teaching supports to Traveller students will now be provided on the same basis as other students in schools. Alleviation measures will be put in place for schools with a high concentration of Traveller children. At post-primary level teaching hours for Travellers will be withdrawn, again with alleviation measures for schools with high concentrations of Traveller children. o A phased reduction of 500 over four years in the number of Language Support Teachers, through a demand driven reduction and, if necessary, a change in allocation rules over the period of the plan. o The redeployment of some 170 existing supernumerary posts in post-primary schools from September 2011; o The removal of 47 primary rural co-ordinator teaching posts currently allocated to DEIS rural primary schools. All of these schools, however, will continue to receive other DEIS supports including financial support, professional development supports, school meals and school books supports; o The withdrawal from September 2011 of 42 Visiting Teachers for Travellers posts, currently assigned to the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB). The School Support services, including the School Completion Programme and the Home School Liaison Service under the NEWB, will be adapted to undertake work with Travellers in the future.

€10 million in savings will be secured from rule changes and efficiencies in relation to supervision and substitution arrangements in schools. This will include implementation of the flexibility measures provided for under the Croke Park Agreement whereby post-primary teachers will be available for an extra class period each week to cover for absent colleagues. There will also be a general tightening of the rules covering substitution. In addition, €1 million will be saved in 2011 through the impact of a 10% reduction in salary scales for new entrants to the public service, with all new entrants starting on the minimum point of the new scale. €16 million will be achieved through further reductions in public service numbers on the Education and Skills Vote, including in the Civil Service and the Non-Commercial State Agencies under the aegis of the Department.

€13 million in savings will be achieved through a range of non-pay administrative savings across the Civil Service and Non-Commercial State Agencies.

It is estimated that the above measures will achieve savings in the region of €160m in 2014.