Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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547. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide, in tabular form, the pupil-teacher ratio in primary and secondary schools for each of the years 2011 to 2014 and for 2015 to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26265/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The information requested by the Deputy is available in the attached table.

Pupil Teacher Ratio 2010-2015

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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548. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide, in tabular form, the average class size in primary schools for the each of the years 2011 to 2014 and for 2015 to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26266/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The information requested by the Deputy is available in the attached table.

Average Class Size in Primary Schools

The withdrawal of Resource Teachers for Travellers (Circular 0017/2011) resulted in a change in the way pupils from the Travelling Community are counted. This has led to a once-off discontinuity from the 2011/2012 academic year onwards in the count of both Pupils in Mainstream Classes in Mainstream Schools and Pupils with Special Needs in Mainstream Schools.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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549. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her views on reducing class sizes in primary schools to the European Union average; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26267/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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My focus in Budget 2015 was on obtaining the additional funding that was necessary to provide for demographic growth. The last Budget included an increase in spending on education for the first time in recent years, amounting to additional funding of €60m during 2015.

This funding will be used to provide 1,700 additional teachers and SNAs for our schools, as well as to fund prioritised reforms, such as implementation of the literacy and numeracy strategy, reform of junior cycle, and the introduction of education focussed pre-school inspections. The improvements in the Primary Staffing Schedule for small schools which I announced in February last are the only changes that I will be making to the staffing arrangements for schools for the 2015/16 school year.

The Government's approach to restoring the economy has helped Ireland to return to a position where we are seeing economic growth. It is a continuing improvement in our economic growth over a sustained period that will enable us to move to a point where we can look again at providing for additional teacher resources in schools which could bring about further improvement in PTR, class size and support for classroom teachers.

The challenge for all schools is to ensure that they utilise their allocated resources to best effect to maximise teaching and learning outcomes.