2026-05-27

How can it be that a school that made it to DEIS plus status, St. Francis Junior School in Priorswood in Dublin 17, can lose a teacher at the same time, bringing the pupil-teacher ratio from 17:1 to 22:1? This cannot stand. The school was recently given DEIS plus status but the board of management, staff and parents are absolutely devastated to learn that they will lose a mainstream class teacher for the upcoming academic year. It is losing a teacher because the number of pupils on the roll book went from 166 to 165. One pupil being lost means that an entire teacher is lost. The school lodged an appeal with the primary staffing appeals board and, on 13 May, got the answer that the appeal was unsuccessful and that the decision was final. The school cannot accept that decision. That community just cannot lose a teacher for those students. The impact of losing a teacher in that area will be extremely damaging to the school community and it completely undermines the purpose of DEIS plus support. What is the point in getting a wellness teacher if you lose a mainstream class teacher? This school is one of the most deprived and disadvantaged in the entire country. It endeavours to ensure that every student who walks through the door is loved, cared for and given every support that they can get in society. They are provided with a teaching and learning environment where they can flourish. The pupil-teacher ratio for DEIS plus is 17:1 but this would bring it up to 22:1 if that teacher is removed. Many schools might be able to cope but not in an area like this, serving a community like this, with such high levels of disadvantage. Last year, this school lost a teacher too. It had to amalgamate three junior infant classes into two senior infant classes. Those students will deal with the ramifications of that for five or six years, all the way through primary school. If the school loses this teacher, it will again have to amalgamate three junior infant classes into two senior infant classes and three first classes and into two second classes. Many of the students who come to this school do not go to preschool or early years learning, unlike peers in other communities. Upon enrolling, they often do not know what learning and educational needs they have. It is vital that the pupil-teacher ratio is maintained so that those students can get the support that they need. I have been informed by the school that it has the highest enrolment for junior infant classes in the Dublin 17 area. On Friday, 15 May, it had 16 junior infant enrolments for September 2026. On Monday, 18 May, it had two more. It currently has 168 enrolments in mainstream classes, plus six new enrolments in the ASD class. That is a total of 174 children. Its enrolment has gone way beyond what it would have been when it had the teacher taken away based on September figures. I ask the Minister of State to intervene. Some 40% of the pupils in this school are from the Traveller community and the rest of the children are from extremely deprived socioeconomic backgrounds. All the staff work tirelessly but we all know the impact, as educational research shows, of adverse childhood experiences and trauma and how they affect pupils' ability to learn and flourish in society. This cannot stand and it has to be overturned.

Addressing educational disadvantage and ensuring that every child and young person can reach their full potential is a key priority for both me, as Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth, and for the entire Government. The DEIS plus programme represents a significant expansion of targeted educational supports. It is designed to provide enhanced, evidence-based supports to 121 schools with the highest concentrations of children and young people experiencing persistent and inter-generational disadvantage. Approximately 30,000 children and young people nationally will benefit from the scheme. Schools in the DEIS plus programme will receive strengthened, research-informed supports across well-being, attendance, engagement, guidance, leadership capacity, community partnerships and access to services, including the introduction of a new positive mental health and well-being initiative to support a whole-school approach to student well-being. Teacher numbers at primary level have reached the highest ever level in the current school year. There are over 43,000 teaching posts across the primary school system. This represents an increase of just over 5,000 teachers when compared with the 2019-2020 school year. This has led to a steady improvement in the pupil-teacher ratio and average class sizes during the period. In recent budgets, priority was given to reducing the pupil-teacher ratios in primary schools, which has brought the teacher allocation ratio to an average of one classroom teacher for every 23 pupils in all primary schools, the most favourable ratio ever seen at primary level. More favourable ratios are implemented in DEIS urban band 1, including DEIS plus schools, at an average of 17:1, 21:1 and 19:1 for junior, senior and vertical schools respectively. A three-point reduction in the retention schedule, which was introduced in 2021, assists schools that would otherwise be at risk of losing teachers. The latest figures for pupil-teacher ratio show an improved ratio of pupils to teachers from 15:1 to 12:1 at primary level when comparing the 2019-2020 school year to the 2024-2025 school year. In the same period, primary staffing schedules improved from 26:1 to 23:1, and average class sizes at primary school level have improved from 24:1 to 22.2:1. In the same period, St. Francis Junior School had a primary teacher ratio of one teacher for every 9.5 students and a class size of one teacher for every 19 students. The key factor in determining the level of staffing resources provided to individual schools is the staffing schedule for relevant school years and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September. The primary staffing schedule is a long-standing feature of our primary school allocation system which ensures fairness and transparency in allocating mainstream class teachers across our primary schools, regardless of location. The staffing arrangements include an appeals mechanism for schools to submit a staffing appeal under certain published criteria. The school referred the Deputy referred to currently has ten mainstream teachers. As the school's enrolment fell below the required enrolment threshold, the mainstream staffing is due to be reduced by one in September. The school submitted an appeal to the primary staffing appeals board. This was unsuccessful. The primary staffing appeals board operates completely independently of the Department and its decision is final. We have to have a system where we have some metrics to ensure that we have staffing across the education system. I take the points the Deputy has made but unfortunately the numbers dictate. It was the Department's decision and then the independent appeals body supported that decision.

What the Minister of State said there was lovely but it does not deal with the problem. What is the point of giving a school DEIS plus status and taking away a teacher? It makes no sense. The Minister of State needs to intervene here. This is one of the most disadvantaged areas in terms of social problems and the different minorities represented. Some 40% are from the Traveller community. This is going to hit that community in particular. There are also issues like crime, drug abuse, etc., which we all know exist in very disadvantaged working class communities. The decision does not represent the reality. That is the point. The numbers have now gone ahead for the next school year based on what was the case. I am asking the Minister of State to intervene and review the allocation for the school or to ask the Minister to do it. To show how much upset this has caused, parents in that community are going door to door. Parents in that community have enough on their plate without having to go do door to door petitioning on this. That is how much it has impacted. The parents know the importance of having that sort of supports in the school. I hope the TDs in the area will get behind this as well because it is not recognising the reality, which is that the school population has gone way over what is needed to maintain that teacher. There have to be ways in which the Minister for education can intervene to review the allocation of a school given the burning social problems the area has. It is not breaking a rule because rules and regulations that do not apply to the reality need to be challenged as well. I am asking the Minister to recognise what DEIS plus is meant to mean and to intervene here.

In the first instance, the school has the DEIS plus status. That status provides extra resources to communities and schools like the ones the Deputy has mentioned. It is important we acknowledge the work that is being done and the amount of money the Government is putting behind the DEIS plus programme and understand the disadvantage in communities across the country and in the ones the Deputy outlined. The challenge is ensuring we have proper governance. We have to have a cut-off date and 30 September has long been that date. I take the points because having been a public representative for a number of years I see where the numbers go beyond it. Unfortunately, the Department made a decision based on the numbers that were provided on 30 September. That date has been engrained in the primary system for a long number of years. An appeal was submitted by the school authorities and that is completely independent of the Department and of the Minister. The appeals submitted have been looked at. The DEIS plus programme has been put out there to ensure disadvantaged schools and communities are supported in a meaningful way and that we are targeting scarce resources right across the Department to ensure they are going to the most vulnerable. We understand fully the more we invest in education at a disadvantaged level and right across the education system, the better it is for society, but unfortunately the appeals system came back to say it stood by the decision made by the Department. We will continue, through DEIS plus and other programmes, to support the school the Deputy mentioned and also disadvantaged schools right across the country.

Maybe the school should close the ASD class.

Thank you. Tá an t-am caite.