Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
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40. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on the staffing schedules outlined in the DEIS programme; if his attention has been drawn to the consequences of applying the pupil teacher ratio of 20 to 1 to existing junior DEIS band 1 schools that currently retain additional teaching posts to allow a pupil teacher ratio of 15 to 1 in junior classes. [10415/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I wish to inform the Deputy that staffing schedules under the 2005 DEIS Plan provided for class sizes in DEIS Band 1 urban primary schools of 20 to 1 in junior and 24 to 1 in senior classes.  

The DEIS Plan 2017 does not propose a change to this position.  Rather, it provides for an evaluation of teaching resources for schools participating in DEIS to be undertaken to inform future policy in the Irish context.

In this regard the relevant actions contained in the DEIS Plan 2017 are Actions 27 and 28.  These provide for:

- An evaluation of the level of teaching resources for schools participating in the School Support Programme to be undertaken within the Monitoiring and Evaluation Framework to inform future policy in this area;

- Pending the evaluation of the level of teaching resources in schools, primary schools supporting the greatest concentration of pupils with the highest risk of educational disadvantage will implement a staffing schedule to accommodate class sizes of 20:1 in junior classes and 24:1 in senior classes.

However, I am  also aware that some DEIS schools have additional teaching posts which had been allocated under programmes that pre-dated DEIS and that my Department continues to allocate these posts in these DEIS schools.  As has been the practice within DEIS to date, schools should use their additional teaching resources to accommodate the recommended class size under DEIS.  In cases where schools have additional teaching resources at their disposal, these additional resources should be deployed to meet the objectives of the DEIS Programme as set out in the School Plan.