Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

265. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of guidance counsellors employed in the State in each of the years 2007 to 2016 and to date in 2017, in tabular form. [24611/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Up until September 2012, an ex-quota allocation was provided for guidance in addition to the standard teacher allocation to post-primary schools. This resource was allocated in accordance with pupil enrolment. 42% of second level schools at the time were allocated at least 22 hours per week in respect of guidance (22 hours being the equivalent of one teaching post) while the remainder of the schools were allocated between 8 and 17 hours of guidance per week.

Since September 2012, at post-primary level guidance, provision is now being organised by school management from within the staffing schedule allocation. Guidance is a whole school activity and schools have autonomy on how best to prioritise their available resources to meet the requirements in relation to guidance and the provision of an appropriate range of subjects to students. This operates at local school level and therefore the information requested by the Deputy on the number of guidance counsellors in post-primary schools is not available centrally within my Department.

The Action Plan for Education 2016-2019  has a specific action to enhance guidance counselling at second-level as resources permit. A significant move was made in the 2016/17 school year with the restoration of half of the cut in provision for guidance counselling. This was equivalent to the restoration of 300  ex quota posts.

The allocation of a whole time equivalent of an additional 100 teachers to second level schools in Budget 2017 is a restoration of a further 16% of the teaching resources that were removed.

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in addition to the 50% restoration in Budget 2016 means that two thirds of the Guidance allocation that was withdrawn in Budget 2012 will be restored in our schools with effect from September 2017. 

The 400 posts will be provided in respect of Guidance as a separate allocation on school's staffing schedules from September 2017. The guidance allocation shown separately on the staffing schedules represents 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.