Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 February 2009
518 Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Science if his attention has been drawn to the impact which the Budget 2009 cuts will have on a school (details supplied) in County Westmeath; the steps he is taking to address this situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6120/09]
View answerThe 2009 Budget required difficult choices to be made across all areas of public expenditure. These decisions were made to control public expenditure and to ensure sustainability in the long run. In this respect Education while protected to a much greater extent than most other areas of public expenditure could not be totally spared. The various impacts at school level were included in the Budget day announcements. Even with the Budget measures in place there will still be a significantly increased borrowing requirement in 2009. My Department is currently finalising the position of individual schools and Vocational Education Committees (VECs) in relation to their staffing and grant allocations.
The preparatory work for this has commenced with the processing of enrolment data that has been received from schools. The staffing allocation processes includes appellate mechanisms under which schools and VECs can appeal against the allocation due to them under the staffing schedules. In addition to the mainstream classroom teachers my Department also allocates teaching resources to schools for special needs and language support. The final allocation to a school/VEC is also a function of the operation of the redeployment panels which provide for the retention of a teacher in an existing school if a new post is not available within the agreed terms of the scheme.
I have no difficulty in setting out for this House or for the public generally the overall changes on aggregate teacher numbers or on grant levels in schools/VECs for the 2009/10 school year. I will do this when the allocation processes have been completed. Furthermore the staffing schedule will be published and it is a transparent and clear way of ensuring that schools are treated consistently and fairly and know where they stand.
