Noel Coonan (Tipperary North, Fine Gael)
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Question 221: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of secondary school principals who retired in north Tipperary in the first ten months of 2009; the percentage this is of the total number of principals in the constituency; his plans to tackle this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39719/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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One principal retired from a secondary school in Tipperary North Riding in the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 October 2009. This single retirement represents 12.5% of the number of secondary school principals in Tipperary North Riding. It should be noted that this figure is based on the number of secondary schools in Tipperary North Riding rather than by reference to the constituency to which the Deputy refers.

The retirement of principals of VEC schools are handled by each individual VEC and details of the number of retirement from these schools are not readily available in my Department.

While it is recognised that the turnover of senior posts is high in comparison to recent years, the overall number of retirements represents a relatively small proportion of the teacher population. The challenges in replacing principals and deputy principals are being addressed by school authorities. At the same time, retirements create opportunities for new management approaches and for ideas to be developed and realised.

The Leadership Development for Schools Programme (LDS) provides professional development and support for principals, deputies and others involved in school management and educational leadership in primary and post-primary schools. The introduction of this initiative in 2002 coincided with a period of intense change in Irish education as our schools embraced considerable change and challenges. Since 2002, thousands of principals, deputy principals and aspirant school leaders have participated on LDS programmes, leading to significant capacity-building at all levels in the system. In as far as possible, the LDS will focus its provision in 2009/10 on addressing this development. Many of the new appointees have already registered for training with the LDS this year or have previously participated in programmes.