Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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326. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there will continue to be a teacher leader for Reading Recovery in a centre (details supplied). [19626/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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My Department, through the teacher support services and education centres, engages teachers on a full time basis annually for the provision of CPD through secondment from their schools. Having teachers with relevant and recent teaching experience and expertise is a key requirement for the role. It is a condition therefore that the maximum length of time that a teacher may be on secondment is five years, following which they return to their teaching roles within their schools. A limited alleviation of the application of the five year limit has been agreed to allow a small number of seconded personnel to serve for a further limited period.

In line with this policy, the term of secondment for the present Teacher Leader in Limerick has now expired. 

My Department, through the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) has put plans in place to ensure that all schools currently participating in the programme, continue to do so for the coming school year. All newly identified DEIS schools from September 2017 will also be afforded the opportunity to access the programme in September.

Arrangements to recruit a Teacher Leader for Limerick Education Centre are also being finalised. The successful candidate will undergo training from September 2017 with a view to taking up the full time seconded post from September 2018.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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327. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if Reading Recovery will continue to be open to non-DEIS schools. [19627/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Reading Recovery is a literacy initiative that was initially made available for DEIS Band 1 and Band 2 schools only as part of Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS), the Action Plan for Educational Inclusion, which was launched in May 2005. Each of these schools was given an opportunity to have a teacher trained as a Reading Recovery teacher. In some areas where training took place in local cluster groups, schools other than those targeted in the DEIS Action Plan were  allowed to participate in the programme.

My Department, through the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST), continues to prioritise support for DEIS schools as well as maintaining ongoing support for other schools already participating in the programme.

New non DEIS schools have not been permitted to join the Reading Recovery Programme in light of the extensive programme of support available to all schools in the area of literacy.

The Educational Research Centre (ERC) has reported positively on the range of interventions including Reading Recovery in place for DEIS schools.

Inspectorate evaluations also demonstrate that the effectiveness of specialised programmes is maximised when they are integrated into the overall literacy programme in a school.

Support for all schools provided by the PDST takes this into account as part of the ongoing  professional development programme for "Literacy and Numeracy for Learning and Life - The National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy for Children and Young People 2011 - 2020" and its "Interim Review Report 2017".