Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have a comment and some questions. I acknowledge the interesting comment by Mr. Clive Byrne regarding the special duty post versus the principal and assistant principal post. As somebody who chaired numerous boards giving those special duty posts over years, I can inform Senator Moran that in the VEC sector there was a farcical position where every second allocation had to go on seniority, with 50 points allocated for time and the rest for merit. With the next interview we could use a new model being negotiated. To give the Department its credit, there were partnership agreements with unions, which insisted on them. That ties up much of what is being discussed today. The partnership agreements did not always have the best interests of the education system. The point was well made about the evolution of responsibility and not just duties. A person with a special duties post could not correct another teacher, etc., so the responsibility stayed at the top while duties were devolved. Some of that process is a bit pathetic.

Is it correct that Circular 16/73 is the last outlining the duties of the principal? Will the Department officials provide a comment on the point about devolved grants for building projects? Is the assessment I provided fair and has the Department increasingly devolved work? That seems to have happened steadily over time. Are there plans to provide assistance in this regard? I do not believe any witnesses have commented on the question I asked about shared leadership for small schools.