Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

193. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will support school leaders by increasing release time for teaching principals and paying the outstanding parity award; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32700/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Principal duties in medium to large sized schools are carried out by administrative principals. Principal duties in small to medium sized schools are carried out by teaching principals. Circular 25/02 which is available on the Department website outlines the number of days that teaching principals may take as release time in a school year in order to assist them fulfilling their principal duties. Under these arrangements my Department pays for a substitute teacher to be employed by a school to facilitate administrative functions to be undertaken by the teaching principal. Under the current arrangements the number of days that principal teachers may take as release time in each school year ranges between 14 and 22 days depending on the size of the school.

I am aware of the workload issue and the pressures on Principals teachers. My Department has done work at helping to ease the administrative burden on school principals. The development and introduction of the primary online database is a significant step forward in this regard. A further step forward was the recent publication of Department Circular 0033/2015 which updates and simplifies the manner in which primary schools can maintain pupil enrolment and attendance records following the introduction of the primary online database.

Economic constraints and the moratorium on recruitment albeit alleviated to some extent for schools, have presented challenges within the education sector. They also provide an opportunity to review the role of the principal so that our principals are leaders of learning, and to reconfigure the middle management structure to support principals in their role, ensuring ownership of responsibility rather than tasks, thereby building expertise and supporting a career path within the profession.

The Department, in consultation with the representative management bodies has commenced an exploration of the opportunities to support and thereby advance our understanding of the needs of school leaders and how they might be addressed.

The parity award the Deputy refers to arises from the 2nd report of the benchmarking body (issued in December 2007). Under the Towards 2016 Review and Transitional Agreement 2008-2009, it was agreed that the increases recommended in the second report of the Public Service Benchmarking Body would be paid in a fashion set out in that Agreement. However, the pay terms contained in the Towards 2016 Review and Transitional Agreement 2008-2009 were not implemented due to the State's worsening financial circumstances.

I have consulted with the Department of my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the position is that having regard to this context there are no plans to implement the recommendations set out in the second report of the Public Service Benchmarking Body as they apply to any public servant.

However, paragraph 5.3 of the recent Lansdowne Road Agreement does outline that "The Parties have agreed that any outstanding adjudication findings as referred to in paragraph 1.16 of the Public Service Agreement 2010 - 2014 (Croke Park Agreement) will be reviewed jointly by the Parties prior to the expiry of this Agreement."