James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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335. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the County Wexford schools with a teaching principal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36545/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Irish education system has certain characteristics that have influenced the evolution of the principal’s role. The distribution of the population necessitates a relatively large number of small primary schools. In the case of principals in smaller schools, while management and administrations duties may be smaller in scale than those of larger schools, they must be undertaken in addition to their full-time teaching duties.

The enrolment required for administrative principal in ordinary schools, gaelscoileanna and schools in the Gaeltacht is 176 pupils, or 113 if operating a specialist autism unit. 

Schools that have less than this enrolment have teaching principals. Recently published Circular 40/2018 is available on the Department’s website, which 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 almost 4,600 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 to 17, 23 or 29 days depending on the size of the school.

While the principal is ultimately responsible to the board of management for the management and leadership of the school, the deputy principal occupies a position of vital importance within the senior leadership team in each school. The deputy principal co-operates with the principal in the fulfilment of the principal's role and acts or deputises as the principal in the principal's absence.

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.

Following is the breakdown of the number of teaching principals in primary schools in Wexford, as requested.

Number of schools with teaching principals:

School Roll Number and name: