Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 95 and 96 together.

The attached document provides the number of teachers holding a Post of Responsibility Allowance (at Assistant Principal I and Assistant Principal II levels). The dates are extracted from payroll data in April 2023 and March 2009.

Posts of responsibility applications are processed throughout the year by payroll staff in my Department and the data attached gives the information at a single point in time.

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 of teachers 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. 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 available on the Department’s website.