Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ar dtús ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire agus comhghairdeas a chur in iúl chuige as ucht a bheith sa Teach inniu.

I welcome the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Richard Bruton, and thank him for his presence in the Chamber this afternoon. I acknowledge that the Minister comes to the Seanad on an ongoing basis and that is very much appreciated.

I commend and thank the teaching profession for their hard work and dedication on behalf of our children. We are very fortunate to have so many hard working and dedicated teachers. Today I am raising the current role of the school principal. In primary schools, the school principal is the manager or the captain of the ship. He or she is the leader of the school. Currently primary school principals are reaching out to the Department in respect of their ongoing workload and are seeking to have the allocation of release time increased in order to lessen the crippling workload they are undertaking and give them time to concentrate on their teaching responsibilities.

As the Minister knows, 56% of school principals teach a class of children full time. In addition to their responsibility to teach in the classroom, they have the responsibility of running the school, which includes administration, staff, curriculum, pupils, pupils with special needs, the board of management, the parents and building and maintenance of the school. The teaching principal really is a multi-tasker.

The situation has got to a point where it is no longer sustainable. Teaching principals are at crisis point. They are requesting the Minister to address this issue. A few miles over the Border from my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan teaching principals enjoy time out from the classroom one to two days a week to do administration work. They can plan to have a regular substitute teacher in place to allow for continuity for the benefit of the children in the classroom. That facility has been in operation north of the Border for the past ten years. Clearly I am here to plead with the Minister to look at the plight of school principals and the workload they currently have to undertake. It is unsustainable and in many cases it is affecting their mental well-being. It is at crisis point. Something needs to be done. I ask the Minister to review the current situation so that the role of school principals and their workload can be looked at with a view to finding workable solutions.