Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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77. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when she will reinstate the assistant principal role to primary and special schools which was cut during the period of austerity; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27219/24]

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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Will the Minister reinstate the assistant principal role which was cut in primary and special schools during the period of austerity? I am down the pile.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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That is right, but the Deputy is there nonetheless.

I wish to acknowledge the major contribution being made daily by all school leaders in successfully operating Irish schools to an incredibly high standard. 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 long-standing moratorium on these posts. The equivalent of approximately 1,300 middle management posts, namely assistant principal, AP, I and II posts, were restored in our primary and special schools. The Department 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 is maintained in the school system. In 2022, the sectoral bargaining process under Building Momentum for the primary sector was used to increase posts of responsibility in primary and special schools by 1,450 posts. Budget 2024 has also provided for an additional 1,000 posts of responsibility, namely 500 AP II posts in both primary and second level, for the 2024-25 school year. A revised post of responsibility schedule has issued to schools to reflect this increase in AP II posts available to schools from September 2024. Today, one in three primary school teachers hold management positions in our primary and special schools.

The school leadership framework introduced in 2017 allows for flexibility in identifying and prioritising the evolving leadership and management needs of schools. This shared leadership model supports school leaders in the overall management and operation of schools. It provides for the assignment and reassignment of post-holders to specific roles and responsibilities to meet a school’s evolving needs. Other measures introduced at primary level in the intervening period in relation to school management and leadership structures include the following. In budget 2022, I ensured that all primary schools with a teaching principal have a minimum of 37 principal release days, that is, one administrative day per week. Schools with one special class have four additional release days, a total of 41 in the school year. The administrative principal pupil threshold has been reduced from an enrolment of 178 to 169, with the deputy administrative principal threshold reduced from an enrolment of 655 to 573. In budget 2024, the threshold for the appointment of an administrative deputy principal in special schools was removed which means that 100 teaching deputy principals in these schools will gain administrative deputy principalship from September of this year.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I thank the Minister. There were a large number of statistics in that. In today's world, especially in primary schools, there is a great deal going on. I am aware of two schools that are undertaking building projects. Matters have become difficult. School principals are not just managing education, they are managing facilities. They are doing project management and procurement. They are responsible to anybody and everybody. It is important that we have the assistant principal role. In today's world there is so much about health and safety, all the children's safety, and all the things that go with education now. The workload and responsibility of the school principal have evolved enormously, especially over the last 20 years. Compared to my time in school, it was a simple process where education was there. There are so many different things now that are the responsibility of the principal, who reports to the board of management. I welcome the news the Minister is giving us but it is important that we restore the full extent of the assistant principal posts that were lost.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. I appreciate and acknowledge every day that more is being asked within our schools. That is of all staff, whether it is the teaching staff, school secretary, caretaker, our SNAs and obviously our school leadership and boards of management, to whom we owe a huge debt of gratitude. In terms of supporting school leadership and the concept of distributed leadership, we have made significant progress. In 2022, as I said, under sectoral bargaining, 1,450 posts of responsibility were made available to primary and special schools. Last year in securing budget for 2024, we made provision for 1,000 posts of responsibility and indeed gave sufficient notification to schools that those posts could be advertised early in the year so those taking them up could be in place for September rather than the delay that has happened previously with interviews and people taking up the posts. I am very conscious of it. We have made progress. I do not at all say that we do not need to make more but we will work on it.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I welcome the Minister's words of encouragement. I agree wholeheartedly with everything she is saying in respect of responsibilities and all of the demands that are now put on the entire school management from top to bottom in national schools, especially in today's world. I am aware of two schools in particular where there are problems. I will send the Minister a note on them separately rather than raising them here. I am coming across the situation more and more that, if a school needs an extension, emergency works or anything like that, there is a massive onus on the school in terms of the responsibility for preparing the reports, engaging and paying consultants and having to know how the whole process of procurement, project management, design and so on work. That in itself is a speciality, might I say. It is important that we support the schools and boards of management in every way we can to make sure education is free in every sense of the word.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I do not disagree with anything the Deputy has said in terms of the importance of supporting schools and ensuring they are free. We have already had this discussion earlier today in terms of access to education and it being free. I already highlighted the supports we provide. These include, free school books, reduced school transport costs, ensuring that there is no payment for junior or leaving certificate examinations, the increased supports to DEIS at around €180 million and the rolling out of the hot school meals. So many different aspects are being provided for. Specifically in terms of the running of the schools, we have increased the capitation so it is now €200 at primary and €345 at post-primary. We have ensured that there was an additional €60 million to support schools, €40 million of which was just paid out this year. In terms of leadership, the Deputy referred to building and all the demands there. We have also worked with supporting patron bodies to put in specific managers and make them available. Costs are being incurred by the Department for that. Equally, we are working with management bodies to ensure that level of support, costed and provided for by the Department, is available to schools on the ground.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I propose to take Question No. 80 next and then go back to Question No. 70.