Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 April 2012
29 Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will commit to publishing the Value for Money Review of Small Schools by the end of this month; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19383/12]
View answer33 Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will explain his rationale for the proposed closure of small schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19492/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 29 and 33 together.
There is no policy to close down small schools. Rather, we have to ensure that the very valuable but limited resources we have available to us are used in the best and fairest way across all of our schools. For this reason, the government took the difficult decision in the budget to increase the number of pupils required to gain and retain a teaching post between now and Sept 2014. Any initiative for re-organisation at school level may come from a variety of sources, such as parents, staff, Board of Management and in particular, the Patron. I have made it clear on several occasions that such decisions will be taken at a local level.
Work is still underway on the report of the value for money review of the provision of small primary schools. After I have received and considered the report, I will arrange publication. At this stage, I am not in a position to provide a publication date. I am committed to publication of the review and I look forward to hearing views and contributions from the House to further debate on this issue.
