Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 421: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she plans to increase supports for principals and deputy principals, in view of recent reports regarding their excessive workloads. [7969/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I am very conscious that schools across the country have to deal with a heavy administrative burden arising from necessary departmental and legislative requirements.

I have indicated recently to a number of parties, my intention to conduct a review of this administrative burden as soon as possible. In this regard, I am happy to report that my Department will shortly write to the relevant stakeholders inviting them to consider where and in what way present processes can be improved upon. As well as consulting with interested parties, this process will also look at internal procedures and ways in which we, in the Department, can streamline our business processes to deliver benefits to principals in schools.

Increased use of IT systems and more effective communication between the Department, agencies and schools are just some of the ways that we are hoping to reduce the burden on schools. I believe that we can collectively identify practical opportunities to streamline our processes, whilst still achieving our key objectives. I look forward to working with my officials and interested parties on addressing this issue on an ongoing basis.