Ryan O'Meara: Commitment to Cut Primary Class Sizes to 19:1

Minister, I would like to ask what this government intends to do to meet the Programme for Government commitment to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio in our schools to 19 to 1. Thank you very much Deputy. The government is investing a record 14.1 billion euro into educational schools through Budget 2026. This record level of investment has allowed government to invest in tackling educational disadvantage and supporting those with special educational needs to achieve their full potential. It has enabled a huge amount of investment in the school buildings programme, in curriculum reform, in school leadership and in the continuous professional development for teachers. Under the Programme for Government there is a commitment to aim to reduce the general pupil-teacher ratio at primary level to 19 to 1 over the term of this government and to introduce targeted measures in every school with very large classes. This will build on the progress which has been made by the previous government. The general average of pupil-to-teachers in the primary staffing schedule improved from 26 to 1 five years ago to 23 to 1 for the current school year. Average class sizes in primary schools have improved from 24.1 to 22.2 through the investment that we're making in schools. The department's primary staffing schedule is the key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level. This school year the primary staffing schedule operates on a general average of 23 pupils to every one teacher, which is historically the lowest ever ratio of pupils to teachers at primary level. More favourable ratios are implemented for Gesh Urban Band 1 schools. The numbers employed in our schools have now reached the highest ever level and teacher numbers at primary level have increased by almost 6,000 between 2019 and 2025. This has led to a steady improvement in both the pupil-teacher ratio and in average class size statistics during this period. I'm very conscious of the primary staffing schedule and the need to prioritise teacher allocations as well to primary schools and I'm considering how best to make further progress as part of the annual budgetary process in reducing the primary pupil-teacher ratio in the context of that programme for government commitment. Thank you Minister and I would like to acknowledge the work that was done by the previous government. Like you said there in reducing the pupil-teacher ratio there was good work done and to be fair in the last budget there was good work done in the capitation grants to schools and that needs to be recognised. It was a huge issue this time last year particularly in front of the Education Committee but the pupil-teacher ratio is key and we have committed very clearly to 19 to 1 by the end of this government and just to highlight some of the data that's come out of your department in recent days the 39,000 students in the country are in classes of above 30 students for the 2025-26 academic year and one school in particular in Tipperary, St. Peter and Paul's, CBS and Clonmel actually had 38 students in one class this academic year just gone which realistically is twice what we are saying we want in the programme for government for the class size to be. So I would reiterate that very important call for the reduction to 19 to 1 over the course of this government. Thank you very much Deputy and yeah I suppose where we can we give guidance and I know schools are very well aware of this and they do this well themselves that where possible the more junior classes would have a lower class size so where there are higher numbers in some classes in many schools you'll find other classes within the school that would have lower numbers to try and accommodate for that I suppose earlier so that the junior classes would have lower class sizes where possible but I absolutely hear the concerns that you that you have highlighted I'm very aware of our commitment in the programme for government for this and prior to 2016 teachers were allocated to primary schools at a general average of 28 pupils for every one teacher so in budget 16 we improved that ratio by one point from 27 to 1 in budget 2018 we further improved it by one point 26 to 1 and in 2021 we improved it another further point to 25 to 1 and in addition there's been a three-point reduction in the retention schedule and that schedule assists schools that would otherwise be at risk of losing teaching posts so this measure helps to better ensure that the teacher retention in primary schools while also ensuring that fewer pupils are required to retain or to recruit a teacher. Minister and in all of this I think the ask coming out of this budget from the INTO is very important the 1,000 additional teachers and I just like to put that on the record here today to help us reduce class sizes for every child to give them more attention to support inclusive education and meet growing pupil needs and to ease the workload pressure and potential burnout for teachers that are facing those very very high numbers within the classrooms and also to bring stability to schools and strengthen leadership and I would particularly acknowledge coming from a rural constituency a lot of those rural schools that are struggling at the moment to maintain their two, three, four teachers that they're always a threat of losing one because they're just barely outside of that number at the moment those additional teachers will help with that we need to fill the posts that are there as well of course but hiring those additional thousand teachers will certainly help with our key commitment and it has been done step-by-step as you've said but I think this year and this year's budget will be very important to get another step down towards that key 19 to 1 figure. Thank you Deputy and also to just add we have more favourable ratios as part of our get urban band one schools and there you heard me announce the GESH schools earlier this year and they're for children and students at most at risk of educational disadvantage yes we have been reducing the pupil teacher ratio over incrementally over the years and that's something that I want to continue over the lifetime of this government but as you can appreciate I can't go into detail now on any budgetary decisions because I've yet to have my meetings with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform but you know I have to look at the whole of the education budget making sure that we're supporting children with education needs reducing the burden as well on our leadership teams within our schools because I hear that those concerns around burnout I hear that very very clearly and looking at ways and listening to stakeholders themselves in relation to what we could do to try and ease the pressure on our schools so that they can focus more on learning teaching and learning which is what you know they're all there to do notwithstanding the administrative necessities that are required as well within our schools. That brings an end for two questions nominated for priority and I move on to other questions. Question number seven Deputy McCarthy. To ask the Minister for Education and Youth if further consideration will be given by our department to refuse additional school accommodation scheme application for a school detail supplied in light of the school's projected increase in enrollment numbers and if you'll make a statement on the matter please. Thank you. Thank you Deputy. The school referred to by the deputy submitted an application under the additional school accommodation scheme for an additional temporary classroom in 2025. This school had previously been approved a permanent extension under the ASA scheme in 2021 for a two classroom special education needs unit and one mainstream classroom. The project is devolved to the school for delivery and my department is currently awaiting a submission of the stage one design report from the school. The school subsequently applied in 2024 for reconfiguration of an existing classroom to cater for a second special class pending completion of the permanent extension project. The department approved this application also and it has already been delivered. The NDP implementation plan for the education and youth sector 2026-2030 was published in January 2026. This NDP implementation plan includes a strong focus on maximizing existing school capacity across the school estate and also ensuring that schools admissions policies and processes are targeted at meeting local mainstream and special class requirements. Available funding must be prioritized where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient and ensuring delivery that is affordable offers value for money and meets functional needs. The school's application for interim classroom accommodation is parallel to the delivery of its traditional building project and that has been assessed including in the context of available capacity in the local area. It's the department's position that the school has sufficient accommodation within the existing school buildings to cater for its local demand through the management of its enrollments in line with its current capacity. In the Yall school planning area where the school under reference is located there is 23% fewer junior infants currently than there were in 2020. All 14 primary schools in the school planning area indicate capacity to enroll more pupils. The proposal for interim accommodation in this context is not therefore an effective prioritization of NDP funding and I think that this position I think has been explained to the school.