Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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482. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the attention of her Department has been drawn to issues relating to the recruitment and retention of school principals; and if so, the actions that it is taking to address them. [52036/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department offers an Employee Assistance Service (EAS) for all school staff in recognised primary and post primary schools. This free service includes a wide range of supports including a confidential 24/7 helpline, short-term counselling, a wellbeing portal and webinars. It also provides advice and support to managers to help them deal with health and wellbeing issues in the workplace.

The recruitment and appointment of teachers to fill teaching posts including Principal posts is a matter for the individual school authority, subject to procedures agreed under Section 24 of the Education Act 1998 (as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act 2012).

My Department recruitment and appointment circulars set out the relevant qualifications for appointment to the post of Principal. Section 4 of Chapter 4 of Circular 0044/2019 sets out the eligibility criteria for appointment to the post of Principal:

"On application for the post of Principal/Deputy Principal the applicant must meet the eligibility criteria for the setting in which the vacancy arises.

Primary schools with less than 80 pupils

Fully registered under Route 1 (Primary) with the Teaching Council.

Primary schools with 80 pupils or more

Fully registered under Route 1 (Primary) with the Teaching Council and have 5 years recognised teaching service, two of which must be in a recognised primary school within the Republic of Ireland.

Special Schools

Fully registered under Route 1 (Primary) or Route 4 (Other) with the Teaching Council and have 5 years recognised teaching service, two of which must be in a recognised primary school within the Republic of Ireland.

Special School where children are enrolled up to the age of 18 years of age

Fully registered under Route 1 (Primary), Route 4 (Other) or Route 2 (Post Primary) with the Teaching Council and have 5 years recognised teaching service, two of which must be in a recognised primary school or post-primary school within the Republic of Ireland".

Circular letters 05/02, 06/02 & 07/02 set out the eligibility criteria for appointment to the post of Principal in a Post Primary setting: "Candidates for appointment to the post of Principal or Deputy Principal will be required to have a minimum of five years’ whole-time teaching service or its equivalent".

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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483. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of principal vacancies in schools across the country. [52037/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to advise the Deputy that at the end of the 2021/22 school year there were 3,395 persons in receipt of a Principals Allowance, in respect of 3,240 primary schools (including special schools and special settings).

There were 484 persons in receipt of a Principals Allowance in respect of 479 voluntary and community and comprehensive post primary schools (excluding ETB schools).

These figures include persons who may have retained a Principal allowance on a personal to holder basis, following a school amalgamation, or school closure.

As the appointments process for the 2022/23 school year is still ongoing, with some appointment forms still being received, it is not possible to advise as to the exact number of current principal vacancies in schools across the country.

Schools may continue to submit appointment forms for teaching posts, or for posts of responsibility, including Principal or Deputy Principal’s posts. Schools may also appoint persons to replace retirements which occur over the course of the school year.

I recognise the key role school leadership has in promoting a school environment which is welcoming, inclusive and accountable.

Accordingly, significant additional supports have been provided in recent years to support leadership in schools, providing for additional posts of responsibility which support to work of school Principals.

Budget 2017 allowed for the commencement of restoration of middle management posts as part of an agreed distributed leadership model and meant lifting the rigidity of the longstanding moratorium on these posts. The equivalent of approximately 1,300 middle management posts (Assistant Principal I and Assistant Principal II) were restored at both Primary and Post-Primary level. (2,600 in total)

The Department has committed to annually revising the allocation of Posts of Responsibility to take into account retirements during the school year which has ensured that the current level of Posts of Responsibility (POR’s) are maintained in the school system. New POR threshold tables are produced each year to distribute these POR’s equitably across all school.

Currently one in three teachers hold a promotional post within our schools.

The Sectoral Bargaining process under Building Momentum for the primary sector has been used to increase posts of responsibility (POR) in primary and special schools by 1,450 posts. The distribution of these additional posts of responsibility are comprehended in Circular 0043/2022 - Allocation of Assistant Principal Posts 2022/2023.

Since the commencement of the restoration of these posts at Post-Primary, there has also been an increased allocation in respect to Deputy Principal posts with over 450 additional posts allocated to schools. In the 2021/22 school year, the enrolment threshold for the allocation of an additional deputy principal in DEIS post-primary schools was reduced from 700 to 600 pupils. These additional posts provide resources to focus on leadership and management in our schools.

This recognises the key role school leadership has in promoting a school environment which is welcoming, inclusive and accountable.

I am also aware that Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for school leaders is vital in developing the skills, knowledge and dispositions that are critical to effective leadership in schools.

The Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) Leadership Team supports leaders at all levels within schools, while the Centre for School Leadership also provides Professional Executive Coaching to Principals in primary schools and to primary teachers who are part of the school leadership team.

The Junior Cycle for Teachers (JCT) supports also provides a comprehensive programme of CPD for school leaders and teachers.

Supports are provided for school leaders regularly throughout the school year and addresses the expressed needs of school leaders.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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484. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of school principals who have retired from their post between since 2018 to date in 2022; and in which school they formerly worked. [52038/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The information requested by the Deputy is not readily available in my Department.

My officials have commenced compiling the data and will forward directly to the Deputy.