Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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520. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of pupils in a class in a primary school that entitles the class to a classroom assistant. [7725/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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My Department does not allocate classroom assistants to schools nor does it have any plans or funding to do so.

The criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts is published annually on the Department 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 arrangements also include an appeals mechanism for schools to submit an appeal under certain criteria to an independent Appeals Board. The Primary Staffing Appeals Board operates independently of the Minister and the Department and its decision is final.

The staffing arrangements for the 2015/2016 school year are set out in Circular 0005/2015 which is available on the Department website. These arrangements include detail of the implementation of two new policies which I announced last week i.e., improved retention thresholds for 2nd, 3rd and 4th teacher and also the improved appointment and retention thresholds for isolated one-teacher schools.

The two new policies will provide some improvement to the staffing levels of some of our smallest schools. These improvements particularly recognise the challenges faced by very small schools that are more than 8km from the next nearest school of the same type.

This package of measures will provide rural communities with security about the future of their small schools, recognising the essential social function which small schools can play, especially in isolated communities.