Written answers

Tuesday, 28 February 2012

Department of Education and Skills

School Staffing

8:00 pm

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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Question 242: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will detail the amount of the savings made through cuts in teacher allocations to DEIS and small schools which will be retained in his Department to fund the proposed literacy strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11156/12]

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Budget 2012 provided for the phased withdrawal of approximately 428 posts allocated to some schools under disadvantage programmes prior to the introduction of the DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) Initiative in 2005. In January 2012, I asked my Department to report on the net effect, in terms of posts, of this Budget measure on DEIS Band 1 and Band 2 urban primary schools that still had additional posts allocated under disadvantage schemes, pre-dating DEIS. Following on from this analysis of the Budget measure, the Government agreed last week to retain 235 of these posts on a concessionary basis in DEIS Band 1 and DEIS Band 2 primary schools.

As was announced on Budget Day, 20 of the legacy posts being withdrawn will be re-allocated for the purposes of providing the continuous professional development element of the Department's Literacy and Numeracy strategy which also has a focus on tackling disadvantage and is a key commitment in the Programme for Government.

Photo of Joe McHughJoe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 243: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding a school (details supplied) in County Donegal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11161/12]

Photo of Gerry AdamsGerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 251: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his view on the situation of a resource teacher (details supplied); and if he will clarify the way this service will be provided from next year and ensure that vulnerable children are not given a sub standard service. [11358/12]

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 243 and 251 together.

The staffing arrangements for the 2012/13 school year are set out in Primary Circular 0007/2012 which is available on my Department's website. This includes the detail of the reform of the allocation process which is designed to bring a more equitable distribution of existing posts between schools. The new arrangements incorporate a long overdue updating of the GAM (learning support) allocation for all schools. This inevitably involves changes to existing clustering arrangements whereby a teacher is shared between schools. A further change is that schools in any locality are being empowered to cluster and arrange their GAM resources in a manner that best suits their local needs. This should be completed by schools in March.

There are also new and separate arrangements for how resource hours for individual pupils are converted into teaching posts in schools. The requirement for resource hours in a school varies from year to year depending on the number, if any, of its pupils with autism etc. Small schools generally have a lower requirement for resource hours. The new arrangements take account of the later timescale for the allocation of these hours necessitated by individual assessment by the NCSE. All of the changes are designed to enable a more efficient operation of the teacher redeployment and recruitment and to reduce the impact of travel time between schools where teachers are shared. My Department will be working with schools and the relevant education partners to ensure that the new arrangements operate as efficiently as possible. As the process proceeds this work can take account of any appropriate local arrangements that might be made to further optimise travel arrangements.

Photo of Joe McHughJoe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 245: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the mechanisms or criteria that were used to determine which DEIS posts would be retained; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11262/12]

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The Report on the net impact , in terms of posts, of Budget measures on DEIS Band 1 and Band 2 urban primary schools that still had additional posts allocated under disadvantage schemes, pre-dating DEIS was published on 21 February 2012. Due to conflicting numbers of posts being reported as potentially lost to Band 1 and 2 schools it was necessary to obtain clarity with regard to the net effect of a range of factors on teacher allocations in these schools; for example, increasing and decreasing enrolments, the reforms to the existing teacher allocations process and up to date enrolments, all of which contribute to determining the staffing requirement for these schools for 2012/13 school year. On foot of analysis of this report, the Government agreed to my proposal to retain these posts, on a concessionary basis, in DEIS Band 1 and DEIS Band 2 primary schools. My Department's Social Inclusion Unit will now be writing to the schools concerned, and all DEIS Band 1 schools in relation to their staffing allocations for 2012/13 school year.

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