Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 May 2012
170 Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 48 of 15 March 2012, if he has any plans to review the decision to abolish the 16 legacy posts in DEIS rural schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22774/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraFurther to my reply to your question of 15th March and as already announced, the 136 posts in 163 post primary schools, 16 posts in 16 rural schools and 38 posts in 17 non DEIS schools will be withdrawn from September 2012 and I have no plans to review this decision. These schools were not included in the report on the impact of the withdrawal of legacy posts as they were not adversely affected by this particular budget decision.
DEIS Rural Primary schools are not included for preferential pupil teacher ratios under DEIS, as generally, their rural location tends to ensure they have lower class sizes. Of the 328 DEIS Rural primary schools, only 16 of these schools will lose one legacy post each.
The Appeals Process which operates independent of my Department, gave schools the opportunity to appeal their 2012/13 staffing allocation. The Appeals Board met on the 18th April and schools have been notified directly by the Board of their decisions at this stage.
171 Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will clarify the criteria which was used to appraise the appeal made by a school (details supplied) in County Galway in relation to the pupil teacher ratio for the forthcoming school year; and if language considerations, as well as health and safety conditions were taken in to account. [22801/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe school referred to by the Deputy is a small school in the Gaeltacht. As part of the new staffing arrangements my Department has expanded the existing appeals process so that it is accessible to the small primary schools that are losing a classroom post as a result of the budget measure. Such schools will not lose their classroom post if they are projecting increased enrolments in September 2012 that would be sufficient to allow them to retain their existing classroom posts over the longer term.
The school submitted an appeal to the Staffing Appeals Board. All appeals submitted to the Primary Staffing Appeal Board were considered in accordance with the published appeals criteria that is set out in my Department's Staffing Circular 0007/2012. This was done at its meeting on 18th and 19th April. The appeal by the school was unsuccessful on the basis that the school did not meet the published appeal criteria. The Board operates independently of the Department and its decision is final. However, the Appeal Board will review this decision in September if the school's actual enrolment in September 2012 increases to the required level.
A total of 367 schools submitted appeals to the April meeting of the Appeals Board. 205 schools had their appeals upheld by the Staffing Appeals Board. A summary outcome of the appeals is now published on my Department's website. Individual schools have been notified of the outcome of their appeals.
The next meeting of Staffing Appeals Board is due to be held on 14 June 2012. The latest date for other schools to submit appeals is 1 June 2012.
The final staffing position for all schools will ultimately not be known until the Autumn. At that stage the allocation process will be fully completed and all appeals to the Staffing Appeals Board will have been considered.
