Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Question 63: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of net teaching posts including existing, legacy and new teaching posts that will be lost in County Donegal primary schools for 2012-13 school year; and if he will outline the detail of each school that will lose posts. [13196/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The criteria used for the allocation of teachers to schools is 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 2012/13 school year were published on my Department's website in February, 2012.

The staffing schedule also includes an appeals mechanism for schools to submit an appeal under certain criteria to an independent Appeal Board. It is open to any Board of Management to submit an appeal under certain criteria to an independent Appeal Board. Details of the criteria for appeal are contained in the staffing schedule, Circular 0007/2012. The closing date for submission of appeals for the April meeting of the Staffing Appeal Board is 23 March, 2012. The Appeal Board operates independently of the Department and its decision is final. The final staffing position for all schools will ultimately not be known until the Autumn. At that stage the allocation process will be fully completed for mainstream classroom teachers and any appeals to the Staffing Appeal Board will have been considered.