Written answers

Tuesday, 12 June 2018

Department of Education and Skills

School Staff

Photo of Pearse DohertyPearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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285. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he is in receipt of email correspondence sent to him by a person (details supplied) in County Donegal regarding the issue of release day allocations for teaching principals in addition to the remuneration and workload of such post holders; when the person can expect to receive a response; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24245/18]

Photo of Thomas PringleThomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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286. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the issue of principal release days and the way they are calculated as expressed in correspondence by a school (details supplied) in County Donegal will be prioritised; if greater resources will be allocated to teachers and schools as part of budget 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24246/18]

Photo of Fergus O'DowdFergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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440. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a reply will issue to correspondence from a person (details supplied) seeking extra release days; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25718/18]

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 285, 286 and 440 together.

Circular 0040/2018, which is available on my Department’s 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.

Building on measures in previous budgets to enhance school leadership, Budget 2018 made €0.4 million available to fund additional release days for teaching principals in primary schools. This additional funding will see an increase in the number of release days available to teaching principals in the 2018/19 school year depending on the size of the school.

I recently announced an extension to the arrangements for schools with teaching principals to cluster their release days into full-time posts, with one teacher covering the release days of all the schools in the cluster. Up to 50 principal release cluster posts will be put in place for the 2018/19 school year. This measure will assist teaching principals to more effectively plan their release days for the benefit of the school.

Any additional increase in the number of release days will be considered as part of the next annual budgetary process alongside the many other demands from the education sector.

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