Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 63: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will respond to a matter raised in correspondence by a school (details supplied) in County Cork. [6056/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The process of allocating teaching resources to schools for 2011/2012 and the arrangements for filling vacant or new teaching posts takes place in the context of the EU-IMF Programme of Support for Ireland and the Public Service Agreement 2010/2014. It is necessary for my Department to exercise additional control and reporting measures this year to ensure that the numbers of teachers employed in schools is consistent with the EU-IMF Programme of Support for Ireland.

There are new redeployment arrangements in operation at post -primary level. All schools must fully comply with these arrangements as the country cannot afford to leave teachers surplus in some schools and continue to recruit teachers in other schools. The Government will endeavour to protect front-line education services as best as possible. However, this must be done within the context of bringing our overall public expenditure into line with what we can afford as a country. We all have to understand the legacy of economic mismanagement which the last Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government gave to this country.