Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Question 185: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason the professional service development for teachers, PSDT, is cutting back on its funding to a centre (details supplied) in County Clare; if he will guarantee the future of the centre in view of the fact that its funding is being severely depleted by the PSDT service; if he will guarantee the long-term future of the centre's staff and administrators as a result of the measures taken by PSDT; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11447/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The Education Centre network plays a key part in the overall provision of continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers, and in this context my Department provides funding in respect of core budget, local courses, and, where a centre is the host location for a national CPD support programme, for the administration and operation of the programme in question. The core budget and the local course budget for Clare Education Centre in 2011 are the same as 2010.

Each Education Centre is a body corporate with perpetual succession. The Centre has a management committee to manage the business and staff of the centre. Apart from the education centre directors who are usually seconded teachers, all other centre staff are non-public servants. Matters relating to the employment, pay, conditions and the numbers of employees are the responsibility of the management committee, and I am not in a position to make any commitments with regard to the future of the Centre's staff.

The Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) was established in September 2010. The PDST is a team of seconded teachers, which offers professional development support to primary and post-primary teachers on a wide range of topics. Clare Education Centre is currently the administration base for three strands of the PDST: the leadership and planning strand, the Leaving Certificate Applied strand and the Maths Recovery strand. In allocating budgets for the three PDST strands my Department aims to ensure that the approved allocation is commensurate with the level of activity and the role of the Centre in their administration, and there is ongoing communication between Clare Ed Centre and my officials in this regard. The Deputy will appreciate that, as is the case with all expenditure, the level of funding to Clare Education centre, the education centre network as a whole, and indeed the teacher support services, is under regular review within my Department, with a view to ensuring value for money and economic efficiency, while providing a high quality service to the education sector.