Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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315. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when posts of responsibility will be reintroduced. [35795/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Budget 2017 provided for a new package of support for school leadership, including middle management posts for primary and post -primary schools.

170 additional posts have been provided 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.

The commencement of restoration of middle management posts as part of an agreed distributed leadership model means that we will now be able to lift the rigidity of the longstanding moratorium on theses posts in both the primary and post-primary sector. This recognises the key role school leadership has in promoting a school environment which is welcoming, inclusive, accountable and

Strengthening leadership in schools is a serious issue and these announcements provide additional resources to focus on leadership and management in our schools.

My department has issued draft circulars to the education partners with the view to agreement and publication as soon as possible.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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316. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to release teaching principals for one day per week to facilitate administration work. [35796/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Budget 2017 sets out the resources available for schools for the 2017/18 school year. This Budget represents the start of a major reinvestment in education, and the first phase of implementation of the Action Plan for Education, aimed at becoming the best education system in Europe within a decade. The budget provides for over 2,400 additional teaching posts for our primary and post-primary schools next year. This includes additional teaching posts to meet demographic need, curriculum reform, additional resource teaching posts and the strengthening of school leadership.

Circular 12/2016, 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 15 and 25 days depending on the size of the school.

Enabling teaching principals to have one release day per week would cost in the order of €12.5 million per annum.

Any further improvements will be considered in the context of the Budget. However, I recognise that there are needs across the system which have to be balanced in the decisions made in each Budget