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 at Scoil Naomh Mhuire on 30 September 1997 was 117 pupils, which warrants a staffing of a principal and three assistant teachers for the 1998-99 school year. These arrangements may be deviated from if a school is in breach of maximum class sizes guidelines, which are as follows: 35 in the case of a single-grade class group; 34 in the case of a class-group with two consecutive grades; and 31 in the case of a multi-grade class group.
The school authorities were advised on 4 June and again on 28 July 1998 that if the school was unable to comply with these guidelines in September 1998 they should contact officials from my Department. To date no such contact has been made, and in the circumstances I regret that there is no basis for sanctioning an additional teaching post at this school.