Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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411. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will intervene to examine the anomaly in the pay and conditions of an acting principal (details supplied). [15401/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The terms for retaining an acting allowance on a personal basis are set out in section 16 of Chapter 3 of Circular 0044/2019:

16. Retention of Post of Responsibility Allowances on a Personal Basis:

16.1 Where an acting Principal, acting Deputy Principal, acting Assistant Principal I or acting Assistant Principal II post is held for a period in excess of five consecutive school years, the acting-up allowance shall be retained on a personal basis. An acting appointment for career break or job-share is excluded. If the acting arrangement continues in excess of a period of five school years, the acting post holder will retain the allowance on a personal basis. The acting post holder is not eligible to retain the allowance if he/she voluntarily relinquishes the acting post.

Circular 0044/2019 was agreed under the auspices of the Teachers’ Conciliation Council, a body established in accordance with the terms of the Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme for Teachers. The Council is composed of representatives of the teacher representative bodies, school management, the Department of Education and Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, chaired by an official of the Labour Relations Commission.

As regards the procedures in place covering the appointment of a person to an acting post of responsibility, including the role of Principal, section 12.6 (covering short term acting posts) and section 12.7 (covering long term acting posts) of Chapter 3 of the circular sets out the provision as regards the filling of such acting posts, and provides that, in schools with 3 or more teachers, a Deputy Principal should be promoted to fill an acting Principal's post in the absence of the Principal teacher owing to illness or other cause. Should the Deputy Principal refuse to take the Acting Principal’s post his/her Deputy Principal’s allowance shall cease to be paid for the duration of the acting post.

The normal practice in the public service that the decision of the trade union recognised as holding representative rights for a particular grade or sector will determine the position for all relevant staff in that grade/sector.

The current pay agreement, in place until June 2026 (PSA 2024-2026) provides for a local bargaining process which provides a mechanism for the parties to deal with outstanding adjudications, commitments, recommendations, awards and claims.

Amendments to Teacher Terms and Conditions, including pay and allowances, can only be achieved through engagement and collective bargaining agreements between the Government and the public service unions or through the Teachers Conciliation Council (TCC) forum. Any review can occur only under those processes.

As part of the terms and conditions of employment, a teacher can apply for both statutory and non-statutory leave. Leave types such as maternity leave, parental leave and carer’s leave are statutory leave types and the rights of an employee to take such leave are provided for under legislation The terms and conditions of each leave type are detailed in the applicable leave circulars. Although the employer can grant/deny leave applications, once entitlement to statutory leave is determined an employer must adhere to the relevant legislative requirements.

A search of the records held by the Department in relation to the individual named shows that, according to the Department’s records, the individual teacher in question has not satisfied the current criteria under which an allowance may be retained on a personal basis, i.e. that they will have acted for in excess of five consecutive school years. Therefore, in accordance with the circular, they are not eligible to retain the allowance on a personal basis.