Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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20. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her views on whether schools in Carlow and Kilkenny will lose teachers for the school year 2026-2027 due to a decline in pupil numbers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59448/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Government has significantly invested in our schools and in our teacher workforce in recent years. Through government investment in recent years, the general average of pupils to teachers in the Primary Staffing Schedule improved from 26:1 five years ago to 23:1 for the current school year; the lowest ever ratio at primary level. The Programme for Government commits to make further progress in this area with an aim to reduce the general Pupil Teacher Ratio at primary level to 19:1 over the term of government. I look forward to making progress on this important issue.

The staffing schedule is an allocation mechanism that uses enrolment bands to determine the number of classroom teaching posts allocated to a school. This is a long-standing arrangement for allocating teaching posts to our primary schools in a fair and equitable way based on their respective enrolment. The staffing schedule operates in a clear and transparent manner and treats all similar types of schools equally, irrespective of location.

Schools are currently allocated mainstream teaching posts on an average basis of 23 pupils for every one teacher. This is the lowest ratio level ever seen.

In addition, there has been a three-point reduction in the retention schedule, which will assist schools that would otherwise be at risk of losing teaching posts. This measure helps to ensure better teacher retention in primary schools while also ensuring that fewer pupils are required to retain or recruit a teacher.

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.

It is acknowledged that, overall, the number of children enrolled in primary schools across the country is declining, although some areas experiencing population growth remain exceptions to this trend. This demographic change has implications for teacher numbers at school level.

I can confirm that the total number of teaching posts in Carlow and Kilkenny primary schools have increased from 1,233 in the 2023/2024 academic year to 1,255 in the 2025/2026 academic year, while the total number of SNAs has increased from 334 to 422.

The teacher allocation process for the 2026/27 school year is scheduled to commence in early January 2026, following the collation of enrolment returns from September 2025. At that stage, schools will be able to determine their mainstream teacher entitlement in accordance with the staffing arrangements which will be set out in the 2026/27 staffing circular.

As part of Budget 2026, funding has been provided for 860 additional teachers for special education working in special classes and special schools, as well as special education teachers in mainstream settings, to support children with special educational needs.