Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 220: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he provides any guidance or instructions to primary schools on the way to distribute the teaching resources among the school's enrolment, particularly to ensure that class sizes in the school remain broadly consistent,; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27348/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The staffing schedule is the mechanism used for the allocation of classroom teachers to all primary schools. It operates in a clear and transparent manner and treats all similar types of schools equally irrespective of location. The configuration of classes and the deployment of classroom teachers are done at local school level. My Department publishes annual statistics on class size data for each school. The most recent statistics are for the 2010/11 school year. The national average class size is 23.9 pupils. However, with over 20,600 classes in over 3,100 primary schools throughout the country there will always be variations in class sizes at individual school level. My Department's guidance to local school management is that such variations should be kept to the minimum.