Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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Question 55: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide this Deputy with a schedule (details supplied). [6974/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The Statistics Section of my Department's website contains extensive data at individual school level in county order. The most recent information available relates to the 2010-11 school year. Statistical information in respect of the current school year is currently being compiled in my Department and is due for publication in September 2012. The criteria used for the allocation of teachers to schools are published annually on my Department's website. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September. The staffing schedules for the current school year and for the coming school year were published on my Department's website in March and December 2011 respectively. My Department's focus is on implementing the staffing arrangements for the coming school year and I do not propose to divert scarce staffing resources to deal with the individual type queries from the Deputy. My Department will be notifying schools in the coming weeks of the new staffing arrangements for 2012-13 school year.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 56: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the action he is taking to support schools which have transition year programmes to facilitate as many students as possible, in particular a school (details supplied) which is a large school but can only accommodate 48 students in transitional year because of cuts to guidance counsellor services and teacher numbers. [6975/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I fully acknowledge that the reduction in resources to second level schools will be challenging for schools. However, the change must be seen in the context of the major challenges we have as a Government in trying to shelter public services to the greatest extent that we can in these exceptional times. The net impact on overall teacher numbers in our schools has been minimised to the greatest extent possible. In the budget announcement for education I made clear that the net impact of the measures relating to second level schools for the school year commencing next September would, after taking account of demographics amount to about 450 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.

Similarly, in respect of Transition Year the management authority of each school carries responsibility for making decisions regarding the Transition Year Programme in that school. Guidelines have been issued by my Department to support schools in this process. In some schools, the programme is compulsory for all students. In those that offer it as an option, circumstances may arise where it is necessary to limit the number of students who can avail of it. It is the board of management of each individual school that decides the number of places available to students on programmes such as Transition Year. In cases where restrictions apply, schools should have clear procedures regarding how places are allocated to students.