Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 2 Jul 2009

Vol. 687 No. 1

Job Losses.

Deputy Seán Fleming

I wish to discuss plans to lay-off up to 120 workers at the Meadow Meats factory in Rathdowney in the immediate term, fears for the jobs of the remaining 80 workers in the plant and the devastation this will cause in Rathdowney, County Laois, and the surrounding areas in view of very little alternative employment in the area. Will the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment negotiate with the company with a view to retaining as many of these jobs as possible in County Laois?

Last Friday on 26 June, the workers in the plant in Rathdowney were called in by management for an announcement and they received the very severe news. The Meadow Meats factory, as it is known locally, is part of the Dawn Meats factory group. The workers were told the company proposed to close the boning hall and the packing area in the factory, which has been in Rathdowney for many years. The boning hall is where the meat is cut up. It is ultimately packed for order in the packing area.

This is a very profitable company — it is not being closed because it is a loss-making business. This company has extensive plants in Cork, Waterford, although technically on the Kilkenny-Waterford border, and in Ballyhaunis. The Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, will be aware of the Dawn Meats factory in Ballyhaunis because it is in his constituency

I am sure the Minister has had discussions with the company because it would have applied to the Department for grants for improvement works at its various plants. To my knowledge, the company, unfortunately, did not include Rathdowney in that proposal.

Will the Minister give some information on the plans for the abattoir, or the killing plant? Will the workers employed in that section be able to continue in employment there in the years to come? A number of the workers in the factory in Rathdowney have been good and loyal workers. Some of them have worked there for 20 to 30 years. Meat factories are not the highest paying factories in the country but during the years of the Celtic tiger, the workforce remained loyal to the company in the town. They could have left for better paying jobs in the short term but they stuck it out for the long haul.

People will be also aware that there was a fine zinc mine, Galmoy, in the immediate Rathdowney area. It is only a few miles from Rathdowney on the Johnstown Road to County Kilkenny. It also ceased operations recently.

The loss of 120 jobs at Meadow Meats, Rathdowney, is devastating for the employees and their families, many of whom have large mortgages and financial commitments. SIPTU is in negotiations with the company on the redundancies and I wish it success in this regard. The main difficulty for Rathdowney is that it has no alternative sources of employment. Effects on the town's community and local businesses will be severe. Any threat to the abattoir's future will also cause problems for local farmers who supply cattle to the factory.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment should call in IDA Ireland officials to acquaint them with County Laois. I know no one at senior level in the IDA who is acquainted with the county. IDA Ireland's track record in County Laois is the worst for any county. No Member will recall an IDA announcement for serious job creation in the county in over 20 years. Fewer than 100 IDA-supported jobs have been provided in the county, the lowest national figure.

As we have given up having faith in IDA Ireland in County Laois, I hope it and Enterprise Ireland can find some replacement jobs. I hope the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment will, through her office, do what is possible to minimise these recent job losses in County Laois. I accept Meadow Meats has offered alternative employment in its sister Waterford plant. However, a proper transport allowance would have to be provided to travel the 200 km round trip every day between Rathdowney and Grannagh, County Waterford. For many employees and their families, this will not be a practical alternative. I ask that a good redundancy structure be put in place and for a commitment that those jobs remaining at the Rathdowney plant will be guaranteed into the long term.

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Dara Calleary)

I thank Deputy Fleming for raising this matter on the Adjournment.

I am aware of the situation in Rathdowney and am concerned about the situation at the plant in question. I understand jobs are being transferred to Grannagh, County Waterford, as part of the company's rationalisation strategy to bring scale to its boning activities. I am aware of the effect the transferring of these jobs will have on the workers involved and their families, as well as on the local community.

The company is rationalising its existing facilities to yield significant savings. It submitted a business plan under the beef and sheep meat fund, administered by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. This business plan was approved by Enterprise Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Government. It is being undertaken to increase capacity utilisation, cut costs, enhance scale and international competitiveness and it is in line with the sectorial strategy for the beef sector.

As part of the company's rationalisation strategy, it is amalgamating boning activities in Rathdowney and at its site in Grannagh in County Waterford. Up to 100 operative jobs will be transferred to Grannagh by the end of August 2009. While 100 members of staff in the Rathdowney facility are being offered positions at the Grannagh facility, the remaining 100 employees will be retained in slaughtering on the current site in County Laois. Employment in the Waterford plant is expected to exceed 300 by 2011.

With the implementation of this business plan, the company forecasts it will increase employment from 1,400 to almost 1,500 between 2009 and 2012 across three plants. Sales at the company are forecast to rise significantly with exports expected to increase significantly. The gross investment planned by the company in Ireland over this time is also very significant.

To ensure job creation and job retention, the Government, through the State development agencies and other interested parties, adopts a co-ordinated approach in dealing with the particular situation. All the agencies work together in making people aware of the supports available to assist in finding new employment or to start their own businesses.

While there has been a decline in the multinational sector in County Laois in recent years, IDA Ireland is marketing Portlaoise as a key location for investment in the globally traded services sector. A significant investment has been made in a quality flagship business park in Portlaoise. This is now an integral part of the agency's international marketing programme.

In addition, the State development agency Enterprise Ireland, responsible for the promotion of indigenous industry, is continuing to address enterprise development in County Laois with several of its client companies developing their businesses there. The agency works intensively with companies, both individually and in sectorial groups, to help them exploit market opportunities and to promote innovation and enhance their international capabilities.

The Laois County Enterprise Board continues to provide support for the micro-enterprise sector in the county. This year, it will continue to be actively involved in the county's economic development, ensuring that available funds are targeted to maximise entrepreneurial development throughout the locality.

The strategies and policies being pursued by the State development agencies in Rathdowney and County Laois will continue to support enterprise development and job creation in the area. The State agencies will continue to work closely with each other and with local interests to assist in maintaining an integrated approach to investment and enterprise development. This will be particularly important for workers who are not in a position to relocate to County Waterford and want to remain in County Laois.

Deputy Brian O’Shea

Waterford has traditionally been a modern manufacturing centre since the 1950s. During the past ten years, there have been substantial job losses in this sector, however. Unfortunately, no real strategy has been developed at national level in replacing these manufacturing jobs.

If the trend continues, the amount of manufacturing industry left in Waterford in ten years time will be a matter of grave concern. In regard to the Waterford constituency, as of last Friday the live register for Dungarvan was 2,209 while the live register for Waterford city was 12,250. The comparative figures for the same weekend last year were 1,256 for Dungarvan as against 7,466 for Waterford. These figures represent an increase of 4,794 for Waterford city and an increase of 953 for Dungarvan.

A further blow for Waterford yesterday was the announcement that another 120 jobs are to go at the Bausch & Lomb plant. For the 1,100 employees who will remain at Bausch & Lomb, major issues regarding competitiveness of the plant must be addressed. Already some production of Bausch & Lomb's range of contact lenses is moving to the parent plant in Rochester, New York State.

This followed the announcement last week that ABB Transformers Limited in Waterford will cease production at the end of March 2010 with the loss of 178 jobs. Transformers have been manufactured at the same site in Waterford for 40 years. The plant is currently building a transformer for Great Garbert wind farm on the Thames in south England and one for Hunter's Hill in County Fermanagh.

The Government, particularly the Green Party members, makes great play of the green economy. I have already taken up the moving forward of wind generation electricity projects with the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Eamon Ryan, so that ABB would be in a position to tender for the transformers in such operations. If the State is to move forward on alternative energy sources in a meaningful way, surely the national capacity for producing transformers, a vital part of such development, needs to be maintained and indeed developed.

Many companies in Waterford are on short time. I understand one is because it is awaiting payment from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Manufacturing of crystal in Waterford ended this year. In 1988, Waterford Crystal employed 3,200 people at three plants in Kilbarry, Dungarvan and Butlerstown. Waterford Crystal employees are still awaiting payment of minimum notice and holiday pay entitlements from the insolvency fund in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to rectify this position.

For the past ten years, the Government had no effective strategy in place to retain manufacturing jobs, to expand on existing employment, to attract new investment and to encourage local entrepreneurs to develop projects and employment in the areas where we can best compete. The key to such a strategy should be the upgrading of Waterford Institute of Technology to university status so that Waterford and the south east region can develop a research and development capacity and provide the fourth level education that is needed to allow the region to prosper. The structures that need to be put in place should include each of the many effective players in the Waterford area. Real Government intervention is urgently needed in the Waterford area to deal with the developing jobs crisis. There is a great need to draw on the resources of the trade union movement as a full and equal partner in the context of the developments that will take place. The role of the trade union movement in dealing with the crisis on the ground needs to be recognised as the positive contribution it is. It is totally and utterly unacceptable that the situation is being allowed to drift at present. I demand that urgent, appropriate and effective action be taken by the Government to ensure Waterford's long-term future. The loss of so much manufacturing and construction employment is also having a detrimental effect on the retail sector, which is a large employer in Waterford.

Deputy Dara Calleary

I thank Deputy O'Shea for raising this important issue. I will give the House the most up-to-date information on the unemployment situation in Waterford. The most recent live register figures that are broken down by region were published in May. They showed that 13,661 people — 9,047 male and 4,614 female — were signing on the register in County Waterford at that time. The national live register figures for the end of June, which were published earlier this week, showed the continued strong upward trend in the number of people signing on the dole. When seasonal factors are taken into account, some 413,500 people were signing on the live register last month. That figure represents a month-on-month increase of 11,400. On the basis of the figures I have given the House, our standardised unemployment rate is currently 11.9%. It is worth pointing out that in the 12-month period to the end of May 2009, some 144,000 people left the live register as they had secured employment, which shows that jobs continue to be created. We need to tailor our activation measures to ensure unemployed people have the best chance of securing employment as soon as possible. We can agree that the current economic crisis probably represents the greatest challenge to this country's well-being since the 1980s. Our public finances have deteriorated, our unemployment rates continue to rise and our banking system is need of continued remedial action.

The aim of IDA Ireland's strategy for County Waterford is to make progress with the development of a knowledge-based economy so that the county and, particularly, the gateway of Waterford city can compete nationally and internationally for foreign direct investment. The strategy includes the provision of world-class property and supporting infrastructure of scale in the Waterford city area. Enterprise Ireland delivers a wide range of supports to Irish companies. The supports are targeted at the specific requirements of clients in all regions, including Waterford, to ensure that they develop to their full potential in terms of employment, innovation and exports and, in turn, stimulate job creation.

Enterprise Ireland, which recognises the significant changes presented by the current state of the economy, has prepared a new recovery strategy. The strategy involves the management of the enterprise stabilisation fund, which provides €100 million to help viable but vulnerable companies to overcome the current economic difficulties. The Waterford city and county enterprise boards serve the Waterford region by providing support for the micro-enterprise sector in the start-up and expansion phases, promoting and developing indigenous micro-enterprise potential and stimulating economic activity and entrepreneurship throughout the county. The stimulation of entrepreneurship can positively contribute to job creation by leading to the establishment of viable growth-orientated businesses.

The Government is acutely aware of the negative impact unemployment can have on individuals, families and society as a whole. It has invested substantial resources to address this problem. In 2009, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is investing €1 billion in a range of labour force activation measures to assist the unemployed. For example, the Department and FÁS have put in place measures to double their capacity to deal with the increase in live register referrals from the Department of Social and Family Affairs. The implementation of these measures has increased the annual referral capacity to 147,000 people this year.

Since the end of 2008, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, through FÁS, has almost doubled its provision of training and work experience activation places for the unemployed. Over 128,000 such places are available to assist those who have lost their jobs. The places are available on a broad range of programmes, including FÁS specific skills training courses, bridging foundation traineeships and newer programmes such as the work placement programme. The latter programme offers a six-month work placement to unemployed people, while allowing them to retain their social welfare payments. All the programmes are available and being delivered in County Waterford.

To date in 2009, FÁS employment services in Waterford have placed over 1,000 people in employment, education and training courses. FÁS has provided guidance and training to 420 redundant Waterford Crystal employees since January 2009. There has been considerable engagement between the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the management of Waterford Crystal on the payment of the outstanding amounts. I pay tribute to the team in the insolvency unit, which has dealt with this matter as constructively as possible. I assure Deputy O'Shea that a great deal of work is taking place to ensure that those payments are made. I will continue to update him on the progress being made in that regard. The Government remains committed to meeting the ongoing challenges in the labour market. In addition to specific training activation measures, the Government will continue to focus on supporting and promoting enterprise development to create new jobs at national and county level. Continuing to support employment creation will be the key determinant in addressing our current unemployment problem. In the interim, we will continue to provide upskilling and reskilling opportunities to those who find themselves out of employment so they will be able to avail of future employment opportunities.

Drugs Payment Scheme.

Deputy James Reilly

I thank the Minister, Deputy Mary Harney, for coming to the House to respond to this Adjournment debate. Fine Gael recognises the need to achieve value for money on behalf of taxpayers and consumers. We want to support the Minister to this end. However, we are concerned that a recent decision made by the Minister could have a negative impact on patients and jobs. The reputed sharp 34% decrease in payments to pharmacists from the HSE could well result in the loss of jobs and the closure of many community pharmacies, thereby reducing choice and service to patients. This might be avoided if other options were considered. Perhaps the Minister could engage with the pharmacists to agree a phased approach, loaded upfront if necessary, that would achieve the same savings over a number of years. The Dorgan report, which was commissioned by the Minister or the HSE, recommended that change should be phased in. I agree with the Minister that it is not acceptable that it costs €600 million to deliver pharmaceuticals worth €1.2 billion to our people.

As I said at the outset, I support the Minister for Health and Children's intention in this respect. However, I am concerned that patients will suffer as a consequence of the sharp reduction in payments to pharmacists. Perhaps the Minister will consider engaging with the Irish Pharmacy Union in a more phased manner. Now that she has made the order, the Minister has the upper hand and may find the union much easier to deal with. Now that many pharmacists have issued notice of their intention to withdraw services, I ask the Minister to set out her contingency plans to ensure continuity of supply to patients, which must be our primary concern.

Given that older people use pharmacy services to a greater extent than any other age group, I suggest that the Minister should instruct the Minister of State with responsibility for older people, Deputy Áine Brady, to take personal responsibility for supervising the contingency plans. Such a course of action should be not construed as removing responsibility for continuity of supply from the Minister herself. We cannot allow the circumstances that prevailed during the methadone dispensing crisis, for example, to be repeated. The Minister has 30 days to take action. I am sure it is within her remit to open negotiations on another front to see if a crisis can be avoided in this instance. She needs to be well prepared if she is to ensure that patients do not suffer as a consequence of the actions of pharmacists.

Deputy Jan O’Sullivan

I am glad that the Minister, Deputy Harney, has come to the Chamber to participate in this debate. The Minister's approach is based on section 9 of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009. When that legislation was being considered in this House, it was understood that health professionals would have to take a hit of approximately 8%. I understand that is the percentage for GPs and other health professions. Why are pharmacists being asked to take such a large hit in comparison to others? They have told us it is 34%. I remind the Minister that when the Progressive Democrat Party, which I believe is now no more——

Deputy Mary Harney

It still exists. It is harder to close down than it was to start it.

Deputy Jan O’Sullivan

——opened up the market — she was certainly a PD at that time — it allowed many young pharmacists to come into the pharmacy business. They came in on the basis of the type of mark-ups and reimbursements that have been there, at least up to now, and were there at the time. Many young pharmacists took out bank loans and now have very high overheads as a consequence of the opening up of the market. They are now effectively being cut off at the knees by this measure. I ask the Minister to understand where they are coming from. I am not concerned about the large multiple pharmacies, but I am concerned about the community pharmacists who are trying to make ends meet and are genuinely worried about having to lay off staff.

I am also very much concerned about the patients who will be impacted by this move. I ask the Minister to meet them on a fair basis to try to find a solution to this issue. Ms Liz Hoctor, president of the Irish Pharmaceutical Union, said: "Our position is a responsible one. We know we have to play our part in reducing costs and we are ready and willing to do so. Indeed, we already offered to take an 8% cut in our fees."

They appear to me to be as willing as any other health professional group to take their fair share of cuts. They have also told me that they have suggested a further €30 million could be saved on generic prescribing, if they were allowed as pharmacists to substitute generic products responsibly for patented products. Will the Minister explain why it is necessary to be so confrontational with pharmacists? We had the battles last year and now we have this battle again. When it came to the consultants, for example, the Minister was able to take years to reach an agreement with them whereas the pharmacists are being dealt with at arms length in this type of confrontational manner, which can and will lead, if something is not done, to severe difficulties for medical card patients in particular.

I urge the Minister to adopt some type of an approach that will meet the pharmacists half way to try to find the savings necessary without everybody having to suffer the pain that appears to be facing us.

Minister for Health and Children (Deputy Mary Harney)

I am happy to be here to respond to the Adjournment motions tabled by the Deputies. I hold pharmacists in very high regard. I have played my part in opening up the market opportunities for young pharmacists here, particularly those who were educated abroad and did not have an opportunity to open their own businesses.

The fact is that we will spend €16 billion on public health services this year. We all know that this is an incredible amount of money, some 40% of the tax we will raise during 2009. Since 2002, the cost to the State of pharmacy services has doubled. No other professional group in Ireland has had its fees from the State double, or anything near it, and that is why pharmacists are different from others to whom the 8% applies. As has been acknowledged, we spend €640 million to get €1 billion worth of product from the factory to the patients in the community. By any standards, that is excessive. In 2008, we gave €440 million by way of mark-up and fees and almost €200 million as the wholesale margin. The article in The Irish Times today referred to by the Deputy, where Ms Hoctor said they were prepared to give up 8%, or €21 million, would mean that fees were only €260 million, equivalent to 2002 to 2003 levels. Their fees are actually €550 million, so unless we are going to start dealing with the facts we will not be able to have an informed debate.

The fact is that we have major pressures in our public health service. Since 2001, the Brennan commission has recommended change in this area. In the meantime, since 2002, pharmacy fees have doubled and that is not sustainable. I recognise and accept that some pharmacists have excessive debt, but it is not the duty of the State to overpay by way of fees in order to deal with those in that situation and neither could the State ever be expected to do so. It would be highly inappropriate of the State, because an individual or individuals may have excessive bank debts and perhaps borrowed money to pay to doctors and others to get into the pharmacy business, to continue to pay excessive fees to sustain that situation.

Regarding income, pharmacists said in 2007 that they had a turnover of €3 billion. This year, we will take €55 million and next year it will be €133 million. They also said in the PricewaterhouseCoopers report that 49% of their income comes from the State. That means we are taking 25% of the 49%, or effectively 12.5%. We are taking €133 million away from what pharmacists said in 2007 was a turnover of €3 billion. I have not seen where the 34% comes from but it does not make any sense to me.

I left a meeting with Professor Drumm and others from the HSE and the Secretary General of my Department, who were discussing contingency arrangements, to come to the House for this debate. I have a number of things to say to patients. I certainly hope that commercial disputes between the State and the pharmacists will not interfere with patient care, and we are determined that no medical card patient will have to pay for his or her medication. Plans will be put in place and they will be well advertised over the coming days in that regard. We have to assess the tenor of the letter that has been received. Some pharmacies have indicated an intention to withdraw, while a small number have indicated that they are withdrawing. We have to seek clarification of that but, clearly, there are ethical responsibilities on pharmacists to supply sick people with their medication. That is a matter for the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland as the regulator. It is not a matter for me, nor is it one in which I intend to engage.

I have been asked why we did not introduce the Dorgan report. The Dorgan body was established in the context of pharmacists having the wholesale margin reduced from 17.6% to 8%. As the House knows, the High Court found that although the principle was fine, the process was wrong and, therefore, we could not proceed with it. The recommendations made arose out of that context. If that had gone ahead — it was in place last year for a number of months — and we had applied the 8% on top of this, it actually would have been a greater sum. Dorgan said we should not completely eliminate the 50% mark-up. My intention originally was to have no mark-up, just a dispensing fee. We have not eliminated the mark-up, but reduced it from 50% to 20%. We have reduced the wholesale margin from 17.6% to 10%, instead of 8%, and we have abolished the €33 million which was paid for the over-70s because we have eliminated the automatic right to the over-70s medical card.

This is not the end of the story. We are going to move to reference pricing for off-patent products and the HSE is looking at the issues surrounding hi-tech drugs. We need to do much more to continue to reduce the cost of delivering medication to patients, and I accept this is not the total picture reference. Pricing is important and legislation must be provided in that regard. I am in discussions with Professor Drumm and others on that matter and there are also issues to be addressed around the high-tech scheme. It comes to this: when faced with very difficult choices the €55 million we will get this year is half the money we spend on home care packages and a quarter of what we spend on home helps. It is factored into the HSE's budget for this year.

Based on legal advice, we used the provisions in the emergency legislation to deal with this issue, and I believe it is appropriate in all the circumstances. As I said, the High Court found the HSE was not entitled to reduce the wholesale margin, but the Minister had the authority to do so. Based on legal advice, we have used the opportunity presented in the legislation to reduce the cost of delivering pharmaceutical products to patients. We have taken the fees we have paid to pharmacists back this year to what they were in 2007. Next year, the €133 million reduction will bring them back to what they were in 2006. I do not believe anyone could argue that the fees paid in 2006 to 2007 did not provide for sustainable pharmacy businesses in Ireland.

I am delighted to have had the opportunity to respond to this debate. I am sorry that the time is very limited, but I assure the Deputies opposite that I am working with Professor Drumm, the Secretary General of my Department and others to ensure that appropriate contingency arrangements are in place so that patients can get their medication and to ensure that medical card holders in particular, the poorest in our society, do not become the victims of a commercial dispute between the Government and pharmacists.

School Staffing.

Deputy Joe McHugh

I welcome the Minister to the House. As he is very well aware, there has been ongoing lobbying about Portlean national school, although this may be the first time it has formally appeared on his desk. We are living in difficult economic times and must examine certain areas where we can make savings. However we must keep a very sharp focus on our education system. We must work towards the future and if we make trimmings in the budget regarding covering the proper educational needs of children at a primary level we will face grave danger in years to come.

In September, one teacher will have sole responsibility for five class bands ranging from junior infants to third class. The second teacher will have 24 children in three class bands. While this is not unique I would like to be specific on the five class bands with 24 children. I recognise the role of the teacher in the educational curriculum, which states that it is "informed by a concern for the uniqueness of the child". One teacher has to come in every day to satisfy the specific point in the curriculum and address the uniqueness of each child for junior and senior infants and first, second and third classes.

The curriculum also states that there is a responsibility to "ensure that the complexity of children's learning needs is served by a learning process that is rich and varied." It will be varied, but will it be rich? I have to say, "No." Added to that band of five classes, there are the specific educational needs of certain children. Taking into consideration that all children have the right to access to the highest quality education appropriate to their needs, in September a teacher will go home every evening having to prepare eight different levels of work in 11 subject areas. This is impossible.

We must think of our experiences at school. The Minister knows the needs of a third class student and a junior infant are completely different. At junior infant level there is much role play and development work on social skills and oral work. That is fundamental at junior and senior infants level.

Into the bargain at Portlean national school, the extension was completed in 2007. The then Minister, Deputy Hanafin, participated and we had great fanfare in the local community, which was welcomed. I welcomed this and participated in the celebrations. However in September, because the school is one student short of the number that would ensure it is a three-class school, there will be an empty classroom built and funded by the Government. The Minister is conscientious about his brief. Is it right that we have invested in a new classroom only to leave it idle because of a new quota system introduced?

This backdated quota ruling was a sinister move. A school with 48 students and three classrooms — because there are not 49 pupils on the roll book and because of the backdated ruling — will have only two teachers, and one teacher will have five different bands to work with while there is an empty classroom.

Is this right? I know the Minister will say it is not, and he will talk about the economic climate and cutbacks. Irrespective of the civil servant's script he has before him and the sinister ruling, I ask the Minister to take personal responsibility on this issue. It is not morally right that we have five different bands of students to one teacher. It goes against the grain of the curriculum and who we are as a nation in terms of putting our children before everything to ensure we work towards our future. I ask the Minister for his intervention, irrespective of the script.

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science (Deputy Seán Haughey)

I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter on the Adjournment this evening. The Minister is committed to providing information on the allocation of teachers to schools and this is a new feature on the Department's website. The process has begun with the provision earlier this year of initial information on the allocation of mainstream classroom teachers to primary schools under the revised schedule for 2009-2010.

In terms of the position at individual primary school level, the key factor for determining the level of resources provided by the Department is the pupil enrolment at 30 September 2008. The annual process of seeking this enrolment data from schools took place in the autumn and the data has since been received and processed in the Department, enabling the commencement of the processes by which teaching resources are allocated to schools for the school year that begins next September.

The Department has written to the primary schools that are projected to have a net loss or gain in classroom teaching posts in September 2009. To ensure relevant information is openly available to the public, detailed information on the opening position for primary schools is now published on the Department's website. This provisional list sets out the details on individual schools that, taken collectively, are projected to gain 128 posts and to lose 382 posts, a net reduction of 254 posts. It is the Minister's intention to have this information updated and ultimately to set out the final position when the allocation processes are completed.

Within the terms of the staffing arrangements for primary schools there is provision for additional posts, referred to as developing school posts, to be assigned to schools on the basis of projected enrolments for the next school year. Under these arrangements, a developing school post may be sanctioned provisionally where the projected enrolment at 30 September of the school year in question equals or exceeds a specified figure. If the specified figure is not achieved on 30 September, sanction for the post is withdrawn.

The final position for any one school will depend on a number of factors such as the additional posts for schools that are developing rapidly, to which I have already referred, and posts allocated as a result of the appeals processes. The operation of redeployment arrangements also impacts on the final position as a teacher can remain in his or her existing school where a suitable redeployment position does not exist. The final staffing position for all schools will therefore not be known until the autumn. At that stage the allocation process will be fully completed for mainstream classroom teachers and appeals to the primary staffing appeals board will have been considered.

At its meeting on 14 May 2009, the appeal board considered an appeal submitted by the board of management of the school in question, Portlean national school. The appeal was considered under section 10 of the primary staffing schedule, circular 02/2009, which is available on the Department's website. The board decided that a departure from the staffing schedule was not warranted in this case. The appeals board operates independently of the Department and its decision is final.

I will set out for the Deputy the staffing arrangement in place if a school is losing a post due to falling enrolments. In such instance the most junior teacher is offered redeployment panel rights. The redeployment panel system, agreed between the patron bodies of primary schools and the INTO, serves as a means for redeployment of eligible permanent teachers in schools where posts are suppressed to schools with vacancies. Panels are determined by the patronage of the school and the final decision to admit a teacher to the panel rests with the patron.

Once the panel system is in operation schools are obliged to offer any permanent vacancy to teachers on the panel. Teachers placed on the panel are obliged to accept the first offer of employment from schools within a 45 km radius of their existing school. If a teacher has been on the panel for more than three years, the 45 km limit no longer applies. A teacher on the redeployment panel awaiting an offer of a teaching post in another school remains employed in his or her existing school and must act as replacement teacher for absences of other teachers in the school. The teacher placed on the redeployment panel from the school referred to by the Deputy has been successfully redeployed.

I thank the Deputy for providing me with the opportunity to address the House on this matter and to outline the position.

The Dáil adjourned at 6.05 p.m until 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 3 July 2009.