Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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104. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether various pieces of proposed legislation from his Department will only add to the bureaucratic and administrative burdens on schools. [40368/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016, which passed second stage on 17 November 2016, and the The Parents and Students Charter Bill which was published on 5 December 2016 are important legislative measures that will have a significant positive impact on all our schools. 

Both measures will fulfil key commitments in the Action Plan for Education to both increase the transparency and fairness of school admissions and improve information and complaint procedures for parents and students relating to schools. 

My Department continues to focus on improving its systems to ensure that the administrative burden for principals and schools is minimised as far as possible.  A range of initiatives have been introduced in recent years to improve efficiencies including the introduction of electronic submission of primary schools' annual enrolment returns, the simplification of the teacher allocation and redeployment processes and the introduction of an Online Claims System (OLCS) for teacher payroll.

It is widely accepted that the quality of school leadership is a key determinant of school effectiveness and the achievement of good learning outcomes. Indeed international research indicates that school leadership is second only to classroom teaching as an influence on pupil learning. Therefore my Department, in consultation with the representative school management bodies has commenced an exploration of the opportunities to support school leaders and how their needs might be addressed. 

Budget 2016 provided 250 posts to second level schools to enable Deputy Principals to be freed up from teaching time and be more fully available to assist the school principal with the leadership of the school. At primary level Budget 2016 provided for additional release days for teaching principals to range between 15 and 25 days depending on the size of the school and was effective from the start of the 2016/17 school year. 

Budget 2017 has provided for the equivalent of 170 additional posts to second level schools to employ an additional Deputy Principal to assist the school principal with the leadership of the school. With effect from September 2017, schools with pupil enrolment in excess of 700 will be allocated additional Deputy Principal posts. Budget 2017 also provides for the commencement of the restoration of middle management posts to lift the rigidity of the longstanding moratorium on these posts in both the primary and post-primary sector. A Department circular will issue in early January in relation to these new arrangements.