6. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Education and Youth to outline her plans to reduce the teacher-pupil ratio in primary schools to 19:1, as per the programme for Government commitment, and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54419/26]

Sentiment score: 0.13

What does the Government intend to do to meet the programme for Government commitment to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio in our schools to 19:1?

Sentiment score: 0.38

I acknowledge the work that was done by the previous Government in reducing the pupil-teacher ratio. Good work was done and, to be fair, in the last budget, good work was done in respect of the capitation grants to schools and that needs to be recognised. It was a huge issue this time last year, particularly at the Oireachtas education committee. The pupil-teacher ratio is key and we have committed very clearly to 19:1 by the end of this Government. I will highlight some data that has come out of the Department in recent days. A total of 39,000 students in the country were in classes of over 30 students for the 2025-2026 academic year. One school in particular in Tipperary - St. Peter and Paul's CBS in Clonmel - actually had 38 students in one class in the academic year just gone, which realistically is twice what the programme for Government says it wants class sizes to be, so I reiterate that very important call for the reduction to 19:1 over the course of this Government.

Sentiment score: 0.35

The ask from this budget from the INTO is very important - 1,000 additional teachers - to help us reduce class sizes for every child to give him or her more attention, to support inclusive education, to meet growing pupil needs, to ease the workload pressure and potential burnout for teachers facing those very high numbers within the classroom and to bring stability to school and strengthen leadership. Coming from a rural constituency, I acknowledge a lot of those rural schools that are struggling at the moment to maintain their two, three or four teachers because they are always faced with the threat of losing one because they are just barely over the number at the moment. Those additional teachers will help with that. We need to fill the posts that are there, of course. However, hiring those additional 1,000 teachers will certainly help with our key commitment. It has been done step by step but this year's budget will be very important step towards that key figure of 19:1.

Sentiment score: 0.27