As the Deputy may be aware, the staffing of a national school for a particular year is determined by the enrolment of the school on 30 September of the previous year.
The enrolment of Carrigeen national school on 30 September 1998 was 119 pupils. This enrolment warrants a teaching staff of a principal and three mainstream class teachers for the 1999-2000 school year. This is the same staffing which the school currently has for the 1998-99 school year.
In the circumstances, despite the request recently made, I regret that even though there is a significant improvement in the primary school staffing schedule for the coming year, there is no basis whereby the school can appoint an additional teacher.