School Staff
Dail Éireann — 2026-10-01
============================================================

Michael Moynihan (FF), Cork North-West

I thank the Deputies for the questions. I would nearly bet that the school has probably committed to and sent in the enrolment for 30 September at this stage because schools are very efficient bodies and I am sure this school, St. Patrick's, is no different. We will reflect on that figure when it is sent in.
I take the point. We have to have a staffing schedule. If we look at the average of our schools, it is even fewer than 20 when we take every teacher into account. I take the point the Deputies made about 33 pupils in a classroom. Governments over many years have been reducing the pupil-teacher ratio to ensure we have smaller classrooms where children can thrive.
I have no doubt the school has contacted the Department, so I will ensure it liaises directly with the school on the figures and advise it accordingly as to the next process. There is no point in me standing up here, whether I agree or not with the issue. Unfortunately, we have to have a staffing schedule that is part of the system and a system of governance that applies right across the education system. However, when cases like this are brought to my attention, I will reflect very carefully on them and see what has come back from the school in order that we make the appropriate decision.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-10-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:01:00+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-10-01