With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle I propose to take Questions Nos. 62, 63 and 64 together.
I am aware of statements made at the recent INTO congress regarding surveys carried out on the class-size position in certain areas of Dublin city and county and Cork city. As the surveys were not submitted to me I have no detailed knowledge of their breadth and depth. I gave the Deputy information in a reply on the 9th February last in relation to the position in the greater Dublin area.
The measures being taken by me to alleviate the position where large classes exist are:
(1) At the present time we are providing annually about 220 teachers more than the number required to meet normal replacements.
(2) The country-wide teacher-pupil ratio is 1:32. The policy of amalgamating small schools will, over a period, help to ensure a proper deployment of the teaching force and the teachers' work load will be more evenly spread.
(3) Many large classes result from incorrect school organisation. These cases are being identified and appropriate action taken.
(4) While there has been little increase in the number of pupils attending national schools in the past ten years the number of teachers has increased by over 1,000.
I anticipate that by the implementation of these policies the problem of large classes will be very much reduced by 1973.