Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)

As we approach the end of the school year in many primary schools, I acknowledge the hard work of many school principals and teachers but I also highlight an issue, the overloading of principals, particularly teaching principals. I met with many school principals in my own county of Offaly and they have told me that their workload is excessive, that it is continues to be extremely bureaucratic and that it is leading to burnout. Many principals cannot focus on teaching and learning because they are pulled in so many different directions with administration. Principals have pointed out to me that their management does not just extend to the school team, that is, the mainstream teachers and pupils, because they also have EAL teachers, SNAs and many ancillary staff coming in and out of the school. This is an issue we really need to get grips with or we are going to see an exodus of principals, especially teaching principals, from our schools.

I will focus on research that has been done and, at the end of my contribution, on solutions. In April, the Irish National Teachers Organisation, INTO, passed a motion at its annual congress regarding the unsustainable workload facing school principals. The resolution found that the current demands and expectations placed upon principals are unreasonably high, raising serious concerns about burnout and long-term sustainability in leadership roles.

There have been ongoing calls made for an immediate review of the special education allocation model. That is causing great frustration. I have raised it in this House before. It is putting serious pressure on primary school principals, who are often left scrambling for resources to meet the needs of students with complex needs. I have engaged regularly with the National Principals Forum, which I thank for its great work in highlighting the many issues facing teaching principals. With regard to the bureaucratic burden, the NPF recently conducted a survey on the impact of the SET allocation model I have just referred to. This survey was conducted among more than 550 primary school leaders. It concluded that 71% of respondents believed their SET allocations for the 2025-26 academic year are inadequate to meet their schools' needs, but the important piece is that the majority of principals and school leaders describe the process as chaotic, stressful, ridiculous and frustrating. We really need to take on board what school leadership are telling us. Another recent survey, this one conducted by the TUI, found that the ever-increasing workload, especially that of a bureaucratic nature, continues to be a demoralising factor. That forces many teachers out of the profession.

We really need to get to grips with this. I have a document here in my hand entitled Primary School Leadership: The Case for Urgent Action - A Roadmap to Sustainability. It was published by the IPPN. The report is extremely revealing. It highlights that there is an inordinate and disproportionate focus on managing the organisation and that this disproportionate increase in focus on managing the organisation without a corresponding increase in management supports and resources undermines the capacity of school principals to deliver greater focus on leading teaching and learning.

The chief inspector also contributes to this debate. A report from him dated between 2016 and 2020 also concludes that there is a disproportionate focus on management and administrative tasks that diverts principals from their key leadership responsibilities and undermines their effectiveness as institutional leaders in the school communities.

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