Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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Question 24: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the largest secondary school in the country (details supplied) in County Wexford which cannot retain guidance counselling positions in place of other subjects due to the large number of students it caters for and, as a result, stands to lose three much needed guidance counsellors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2901/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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All schools must continue to provide guidance to their pupils. However, from September 2012 guidance provision will be managed by schools from within their standard staffing allocation.

The impact of this decision for the school referred to by the Deputy will be to reduce its staffing by 3 posts out of a total of over 100 posts.

Schools will have autonomy on how best to prioritise its available resources to meet its requirements in relation to guidance and the provision of an appropriate range of subjects to its students. Decisions on how this is done will be taken at school level and I am confident that schools will act in the best interest of students when determining precisely how to use the teaching resources available to them.