Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 1398: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the progress in regard to the commitment given in the programme for Government to increase the number of release days for teaching principals at primary level and expand the pilot scheme of substitute cover for principals' release days. [47956/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I am conscious of the workload issues affecting Principal teachers and am aware of the key role they play in determining the shape of our schools. The scheme of release time for principals enables teaching principals of primary schools to be released from their teaching duties for a specified number of days annually to undertake administrative leadership and management functions. The number of days release time allowed varies between 14 and 22 and is determined by the number of mainstream class teachers in the school. Paid substitution is provided by my Department for the days that Principals are on release time.

In the 2005/2006 school year my Department, following consultation with the relevant education interests, introduced on a pilot basis, a system whereby a fully qualified primary school teacher may be employed to act as a nominated substitute teacher for the Principals in a cluster of schools taking release days. Twenty clusters have been established under the pilot scheme.

There is a commitment in the programme for Government to increase the number of release days for teaching principals and to also expand the pilot scheme for substitute cover for principal release days. However, there is no scope for making improvements in this area in the current economic and budgetary environment. I have consistently said that the 2009 Budget required difficult choices to be made across all areas of public expenditure. These decisions were made to control public expenditure and to ensure sustainability in the long run. In this respect, Education, while protected to a much greater extent than most other areas of public expenditure, could not be totally spared.

I fully accept that these decisions are not of themselves desirable and that they can only be justified by the imperative of securing the future economic stability of the country. I have called for co-operation from all the education partners in meeting the challenges facing us both as an education community and as a country.