Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 June 2015
735. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason her Department has failed to provide additional administrative support to a school (details supplied) in County Wexford; her views on the fact that there is just one member of administrative staff to support a new school that will have approximately 400 students from September 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23730/15]
View answerThe Deputy will be familiar with the moratorium on recruitment and promotions, in accordance with which no public service post, however arising, may be filled by recruitment, promotion or payment of an allowance for performance of duties at a higher grade. In that regard, the Department was granted a limited derogation from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform which allowed administrative and maintenance posts in ETB schools to be sanctioned in exceptional circumstances.
The school to which the Deputy refers is an Education and Training Board (ETB) school. The Department provides an administrative support staffing allocation to each ETB, and the distribution of this staffing allocation amongst its schools is a matter for the ETB in question. Accordingly, requests for additional administrative support staff are made to the Department by ETBs, not by individual schools. In July 2013 the Department received a request from Waterford and Wexford ETB for additional administrative resources, in respect of the school to which the Deputy refers. This request was granted. The Department has not been contacted by the ETB since that point in time.
If the school authorities wish to pursue this matter they should address their concerns to Waterford and Wexford ETB in the first instance.
