Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 December 2011
125 Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills the average class size in each primary school in County Kerry for the years 2010 and 2011; the envisaged class size for each school in 2012; and his plans to reduce these class sizes in 2012. [39640/11]
View answer149 Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Education and Skills following the budget announcements if a school (details supplied) in Dublin 1 will lose teachers in the coming year; if so, the number of same and the phasing in arrangements that have been planned by him. [39873/11]
View answer164 Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the effect of pupil teacher ratio changes in budget 2012 on schools in Cork city and county. [39991/11]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 125, 149 and 164 together.
The Statistics section of my Department's website contains class size data at individual primary school level in county order for the 2010/2011 school year. The source of this data is the National School Annual Census. Statistical information in respect of the current school year is currently being compiled in my Department and is due for publication in September 2012.
As you will be aware from the budget announcements, there is no increase in the general average of 28:1 for the allocation of classroom teachers at primary level. The relevant appointment and retention figures for mainstream staffing has been published on the Department's website. However, the staffing arrangements in schools for the 2012/2013 school year can also be affected by changes in their enrolment, the impact of other budget measures and the reforms to the teacher allocation process. The reform of the allocation process is designed to bring a more equitable distribution of existing posts between schools so there will inevitably be some schools that will lose posts and some schools that will gain posts.
My Department will be notifying schools in January of the new staffing arrangements for 2012/13 school year.
