John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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104. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will review the provision in SI No. 394 of 2017 which states that directors cannot serve for more than five consecutive years (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41121/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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My Department arranges for the secondment of teachers from their teaching posts for the purpose of developing and providing CPD for teachers and for appointment as Directors of Education Support Centres (ESC's).

By their nature, secondments are not permanent appointments and are renewed each year subject to ongoing need and policy requirements. 

Secondment arrangements provide flexibility and ensure that the in-service needs of teachers and other support priorities of the school system can be met within the resources available. Having teachers with relevant and recent teaching experience and expertise is a key requirement for the role. It is a condition therefore that the maximum length of time that a teacher may be on secondment is five years, following which they return to their teaching roles in their schools. In this way, their expertise and knowledge is not lost to the system. Each ESC has a management committee and staff which ensures continuity at a local level.

Section 37 of the Education Act 1998 provides the legislative basis for the establishment and regulation of Education Centres.  Section 37(6) of the Act makes provision to make regulations relating to a number of matters in ESC's such as the appointment of management committees, funding, staffing, provision of information to the DES & other operational matters.

In early 2016, my Department received legal correspondence which questioned the Department’s powers in relation to ESC's and, in particular, drew attention to the absence of any regulations under Section 37 of the Education Act 1998.

Accordingly, I have now introduced regulations which provide the statutory basis for the appointment and renewal of directors in Education Support Centres. These regulations, which have been flagged for some time, are effective from 1September 2017.