Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will calculate the savings in 2013 arising from the earlier closing of the visiting teacher service for Travellers and the system of resource teachers for Travellers. [7412/13]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the allocation in 2012 and subsequent outturn, with the allocation in 2013 of funding from the 123 compensatory and alleviation posts under the former scheme for resource teachers for Travellers. [7415/13]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the funding provided, for each of the years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, with the subsequent outturn, under the heading of extra teaching hours at second level for Travellers and the allocation for 2013. [7417/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 302, 305 and 306 together.

The decision to withdraw all Resource Teacher for Travellers posts was taken by the previous Government. The economic situation has meant that very difficult decisions have had to be taken in order to make expenditure savings and to ensure that teacher numbers remain within the Public Service Employment Control Framework.

Traveller pupils who are eligible for learning support teaching should receive this tuition through the existing learning support provision in schools. All schools should select students for learning support on the basis of priority of need.

Limited alleviation measures have been provided to assist schools which have high numbers or concentrations of Traveller pupils who were previously supported by Resource Teacher for Travellers (RTT) posts.

As at the end of January 2011 the number of Resource Teachers for Travellers employed amounted to a total of 709.54 WTE posts nationwide, being made up of 488 posts at primary school level and 221.54 posts at post primary level.

Traveller enrolments were included in the valid enrolment for the purpose of allocating additional staffing under DEIS from the 2011/12 school year. 81 posts were used for this readjustment.

Post Primary schools and non DEIS PTR enhanced Primary schools were allocated alleviation posts on the basis of having 33 or more pupils in their schools previously supported by RTT posts. 38 such alleviation posts were allocated to schools, including 18 posts at post primary school level.

Some 22 additional alleviation posts were also allocated to the Post Primary schools and Primary schools who had the highest percentage of traveller pupils previously supported by RTT posts, in comparison to other schools, taking into account their overall pupil populations, and who had not qualified for the first round of alleviation posts. This included 3 posts at post primary level.

A total of 141 posts were therefore used for adjustment, alleviation, or additional alleviation for schools, giving an overall net reduction of 568.54 posts, with an approximate saving of €34m per annum.

Some 141 adjustment, alleviation, or compensatory posts were provided in 2012 and the same number are being provided in 2013, at an estimated cost of €8.4m.

It should be noted that the General Allocation Model which provides additional learning support and resource teaching allocations for primary schools was updated for all primary schools for the 2012/13 school year and included the traveller pupils who had previously been supported by RTT posts under the General Allocation Model.

The total number of Resource Teacher for Traveller posts or posts providing extra tuition for traveller post primary pupils for the years from 2008-2013 are as follows:

Total Traveller Allocation:

2008/2009 - 205;

2009/2010 - 226;

2010/2011 - 225;

2011/2012 - 21;

2012/2013 - 21;

2013/2014 - 21.

The posts from 2011/12 are the alleviation posts provided at post primary level.

In relation to the Visiting Teacher for Traveller posts, under the National Recovery Plan 2011-2014, the Visiting Teachers Service for Travellers (VTST) was also discontinued from September 2011. A total of 40 Whole Time equivalent posts were withdrawn as a result of this measure at an estimated saving cost of €2.4m.

In September 2009 management of the Visiting Teachers Service for Travellers was assigned to the National Education Welfare Board to be integrated with School Completion Programme, Home School Community Liaison and the Education Welfare services to provide a more focussed approach to deliver better outcomes for children and families, including the Traveller Community. Responsibility for the NEWB and its services transferred to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs with effect from May 2011. The two departments continue to work together to ensure that the services in the NEWB, including the SCP, the HSCL and the EWS will have a renewed focus to more effectively target and support all children at risk, including Traveller children. The NEWB is currently developing its new integrated service in schools, One Child, One Team, One Plan: NEWB Service Delivery for DEIS and non-DEIS schools.