Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 123: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he intends to take in general to alleviate the impact of curtailment of plans brought about by the economic situation he inherited, with particular reference to pupil-teacher ratios, overcrowded classrooms and inadequate school buildings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19459/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The process of allocating teaching resources to schools for 2011/2012 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.

At this point I do not propose to give any specific commitment on the allocation of teachers to schools for the 2012/13 school year. The number of teaching posts that we can afford to fund in schools is a matter that I will have to consider with my colleagues in Cabinet in the context of the next budget and meeting our obligations under the EU/IMF Programme.

The National Recovery Plan 2011-2014 makes provision for a net increase of just over 2,000 posts across the education sector between the end of 2010 and the end of 2014. Clearly the latest information from the census will have to be factored into those deliberations.

As the Deputy will be aware, the National Recovery Plan provided for consultation with the education partners in relation to how best to achieve a further reduction in teacher payroll costs from 2012. It envisaged the introduction of appropriate increases in the classroom teacher allocation schedules if the consultation process did not produce alternative feasible measures to deliver the required savings.

My Department has commenced this consultation process. The education partners at primary and post-primary level have been given the opportunity to contribute this month to the process of identifying a range of measures that the Government can consider in order to achieve a further reduction in teacher payroll costs from the school year 2012/13.

Based on my Department's most recent statistics, it is expected that enrolments will increase nationally from a current enrolment at primary level of circa 509,652 pupils to circa 552,800 pupils by 2017 and at post-primary level from a current enrolment of circa 317,432 pupils to circa 342,300 pupils by 2017. My Department is currently examining all areas of the country to determine where additional provision will be required at both primary and post-primary level up to 2017.

It is within this context that I recently announced that up to 40 new schools are to be established within the next six years, comprising of twenty new primary schools and twenty new post-primary schools. Of the 40 new schools, 17 will be in the Dublin area with a further twelve in the commuter belt of Wicklow, Kildare, Meath and Louth. Six new schools will be established in Cork, three in Galway and one each in Wexford and Cavan. In addition, it will be necessary to extend the capacity of many existing schools to meet the demand for increased pupil places.

The current status of all projects on my Department's school building programme may be viewed on my Department's website at www.education.ie and this will be updated regularly throughout the year.