Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 February 2026
360. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Youth the steps or research undertaken by her Department to assess or reduce the administrative burden on school principals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13777/26]
View answerI recognise the key role school leadership in improving educational outcomes by creating a positive school climate and environment as well as motivating and empowering educators and learners within their school communities.
Recent improvements in relation to school management and leadership structures include:
• 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 4 additional release days, a total of 41 in the school year.
• schools with two special classes have administrative principal status regardless of enrolment
• 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.
• Budget 2024 removed the threshold for the appointment of an Administrative Deputy Principal in special schools.
• the second teacher in two-teacher schools have Deputy Principal status as opposed to holding Assistant Principal II posts.
• Restoration of middle management positions were prioritised in recent Budgets with 500 additional AP II posts allocated to primary schools in the 2024/25 school year. For the 2025/26 school year, the equivalent of 500 AP II posts is being distributed as 110 AP I and 251 AP II for the purposes of fully restoring all PORs in primary schools.
School leadership is second only to teachers when it comes to transforming student outcomes. Recognising this and the enormous contribution that our school leaders make to our students, my department has commenced a review of school leadership and system governance to examine how best to support our school leaders to meet increasing challenges. This work will feed into a longer term strategy for the school sector.
My department is also leading on the commitment in the Programme for Government to trial new administrative supports and arrangements for principals and boards of management to reduce the non-educational aspect of their workloads. These new posts have the working title of Administrative Executives and are being trialled in six schools – three primary and three post primary. The roles have now commenced. Independent evaluators have been appointed to establish the impact and feasibility of such roles, and test a job specification. The evaluation will also identify the impact of the posts on school leadership teams. The evaluation will also aid in identifying what external administrative supports are required that schools could draw on.
