Vol. 456 No. 2
82 Miss Coughlan asked the Minister for Education if she will retract her Department's letter of 11 August 1995, regarding the revised method of calculation of whole-time teacher equivalents which is resulting in the loss of teaching hours for second-level schools in this country and which will have a detrimental effect on the management of such schools and the provision of proper curricular needs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13569/95]
I do not propose to retract the letter in question. The revised method of calculating part-time hours means that henceforth a post will equate to the same number of hours whether filled on a wholetime or part-time basis. Previously an advantage accrued to school management where a post was filled by a number of part-time appointees.
I should add that my Department is currently considering appeals for increased teacher allocations from individual school authorities. These appeals are being considered in the context of available resources and decisions will be conveyed to the school authorities concerned as soon as possible.
