Vol. 492 No. 4
362 Mr. J. Mitchell asked the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the particular challenges facing St Mary's national school, St. Mary's Place, Dublin 7, in view of the high number of immigrant children attending that school; his views on whether the school should not lose a teacher in September 1998 in view of the fact that the school is in a disadvantaged area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14432/98]
The staffing of primary schools is determined by the enrolment of the school on 30 September of the previous school year. An agreement to this effect was made between the Government and the INTO in the 1980s and this agreement has been fully and rigorously adhered to since them.
Since the introduction of the Breaking the Cycle pilot project, schools selected for inclusion in the urban dimension of the scheme have been allocated extra staffing resources to enable them to operate within a maximum class size of 15 pupils in all junior classes. In line with the agreement referred to above, these staffing allocations are also determined by reference to the schools' enrolments at 30 September of the previous school year.
However, there is an arrangement in place whereby schools may contact my Department if their projected entrolments are to increase for the forthcoming school year. In such situations, my Department will re-examine the schools' staffing needs based on the projected enrolments.
