Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Question 167: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the current student-teacher ratio in primary schools; and if this number will be increased in budget 2011. [37380/11]

Michelle Mulherin (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 173: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to safeguard the current pupil-teacher ratio in our schools for 2012-2013. [37472/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 167 and 173 together.

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 staffing schedule is the mechanism used for allocating mainstream teaching posts to all schools. It currently operates on the basis of a general average of 1 classroom teacher for every 28 pupils.

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 forthcoming budget and meeting our obligations under the EU/IMF Programme.

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. All areas of Government will have to manage on a reduced level of resources. The challenge will be to ensure that the resources that can be provided are used to maximum effect to achieve the best possible outcome for pupils.