Pupil-Teacher Ratio
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-01
============================================================

Michael Moynihan (FF), Cork North-West

I thank the Senator. The first point was on the progress being made on the pupil–teacher ratio and how we are going to continue that progress in the lifetime of the Government, in line with the commitment in the programme for Government. The challenges with the staffing schedule go back many years and relate to the enrolment number on 30 September. We have to have very clear guidance on the staffing schedule. I see the merit in flexibility where schools are just shy of the requirement by one pupil or whatever, but, to operate the entire education system with its 43,000 primary school teachers, we have to be very mindful that the 30 September numbers are built into the pupil-teacher ratios, and we have to work to them.
The other point the Senator made was on teacher training. Thankfully, a huge number of people are still willing to study education in teacher training colleges. That builds on the great education system we have and the teachers who have worked within it over many generations and have yielded enormous benefits for Ireland Inc. Thankfully, there are young people who are quite willing to regard teaching as a career, and long may that continue.
Yes, I understand the issue affecting small rural schools, but it is important to note that numbers are also an issue in some urban schools. I take the Senator's points and will reflect very carefully on them as we go into the budget cycle, which started a number of weeks ago. Our commitment in the programme for Government is very clear on where we need to get to in terms of education.

---

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/seanad/2026-07-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-01