Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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507. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps her Department is taking to address the closure of small rural schools (details supplied); if she will provide details of school closures, per county since 2020, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52022/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The decision-making authority for a school closure is the Patron of that school. Any proposed closure involves extensive consultation at local level and must be well planned and managed in a manner that accommodates the interests of students, parents, teachers and local communities. The school currently has seven pupils enrolled and there are no plans for closure in this school year.

The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September.

There is no change to the staffing of the school referred to by the Deputy for the current school year.

The staffing process contains an appeals mechanism for schools to submit a staffing appeal under certain criteria, including one aimed specifically at small schools, to an independent Primary Staffing Appeals Board. The arrangements for primary school staffing, including information on the appeals process, for the 2026/27 school year will be published in the Spring. The details requested by the Deputy regarding the number of school closures by county since 2020 is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy separately.

The Programme for Government provides for a number of measures to support small schools, including introducing a new national small schools' project and trialling new administrative supports. The Government is very aware that small schools are an important part of the life of local communities.