Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 22: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will list the primary and post-primary schools on a county basis that are likely to lose three or more teaching posts from their current rota when the new school year commences in September 2012. [14678/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Teacher allocations are approved annually in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment.My Department has published the staffing arrangements at primary and post primary level for the coming school year, 2012/13. The relevant circulars, Primary 0007/2012 and Post Primary 0009/2012 are available on my Department's website.

At post primary level and in accordance with existing arrangements, where a school management authority is unable to meet its curricular commitments within its approved allocation, my Department considers applications for additional short term support i.e., curricular concessions.

The allocation processes at both primary and post primary level also include an appeals mechanism under which schools can appeal against the allocation due to them under the staffing schedules. The appeal procedures are set out in the circulars referred to above.

For the coming school year the existing staffing appeals criteria have been extended to enable some limited phasing arrangements for schools where the combination of budget and reform measures impact on a particularly adverse manner on a school's overall allocation.

The Appeal Boards operate independently of the Department and their decisions are final. The final staffing position for all schools at primary and post primary level will ultimately not be known until the Autumn. At that stage the allocation process will be fully completed and any appeals to the Staffing Appeal Boards will have been considered.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 23: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills, with regard to the Breaking the Cycle scheme and the decision to increase the pupil-teacher ratio from 15:1 to 18:1, the reason information published on his Department's website refers to a pupil-teacher ratio of 20:1. [14679/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The new staffing schedules for DEIS Band 1 schools provides for 20:1 in junior schools, 22:1 in vertical schools (schools with junior and senior classes) and 24:1 in senior schools. The staffing schedule for DEIS Band 1 schools in Appendix A of the Staffing Circular 0007/2012 has been applied to each Band 1 school.

In addition, posts from previous disadvantage schemes in Band 1 and Band 2 DEIS schools, which the Government agreed to retain, have been allocated to the schools involved to ensure that each school continues to implement the appropriate favourable pupil teacher ratios from previous disadvantage schemes while not exceeding this entitled for the 2012/2013 school year.

All schools concerned have now been notified of their teaching staff entitlement for the 2012/13 school year.