Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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155. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated costs of providing one guidance counsellor per 500 students ex quota taking into account the additional guidance counselling provision outlined in budget 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34241/16]

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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156. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the current ratio of guidance counsellors to students at secondary level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34242/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 155 and 156 together.

Budget 2017 provides for 2,400 additional teaching posts by the end of 2017. This includes 100 posts arising from enhancements to guidance.

The allocation of a whole time equivalent of an additional 100 teachers to second level schools is a restoration of a further 16% of the teaching resources that were removed when the allocation of guidance posts was brought within quota.

The delivery of this 16% restoration in addition to the 50% restoration in Budget 2016, means that two thirds of the Guidance allocation that was withdrawn in Budget 2012 will be restored in our schools with effect from September 2017.

As a result of this decision to further enhance the guidance allocation to schools and provide schools with a separate allocation for guidance outside of the quota, the pupil teacher ratio (PTR) will revert to 19:1 with effect from September 2017. The guidance allocation will be shown separately on the staffing schedules and will represent 0.4 of the PTR for each school. DEIS schools will have a guidance allocation of 1.15 of the PTR which represents the total guidance allocation that was restored to these schools.

The PTR allocation in a school year is determined by the overall number of posts and enrolments as of the 30th September of the previous year. This cannot be determined until the enrolment data from each school is confirmed in the October returns from schools which is currently ongoing within my Department.

The provision of 1 guidance counsellor per 500 students would require 350 posts in addition to the 400 posts which have been restored in Budget 2016 and 2017 at an estimated cost of €22.2m per annum.