Written Answers Nos. 82-101
82. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether the recently revised assessment of need framework limits or reduces access to cognitive assessment for children, including in cases where intellectual disability is not suspected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22563/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra83. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth the way in which the revised assessment of need framework ensures that children with uneven developmental profiles, including those who may be gifted or twice-exceptional (details supplied) will be appropriately identified within the system; whether her Department has conducted any impact assessment on the way in which the revised model may affect the identification of children whose needs are masked by high cognitive ability or compensatory functioning; the safeguards in place to prevent under-identification of such children, particularly in light of evidence that twice-exceptional children are already under-recognised within Irish education and disability services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22565/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra85. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether consideration has been given to the potential for increased reliance on private assessments arising from any restriction in public access to cognitive assessment; the implications this may have for equity of access; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22569/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra86. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth the training or guidance being provided to assessment officers and multidisciplinary teams to ensure that complex presentations, including masking and twice-exceptionality, are recognised under the revised model; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22571/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra87. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth her Departments plans to review the implementation of the revised assessment of need framework to ensure that no cohort of children is excluded from identification due to the streamlining of assessment processes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22573/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 82, 83, 85, 86 and 87 together.
The Assessment of Need process is under the remit of the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. Questions in relation to the revised Assessment of Need process should be directed to colleagues in that Department.
84. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will clarify if access to cognitive or psychological assessment remains available where there is evidence of significant intra-individual discrepancy, asynchronous development, or unexplained underachievement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22567/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra124. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Education and Youth if access to cognitive or psychological assessment remains available where there is evidence of significant intra-individual discrepancy, asynchronous development, or unexplained underachievement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22845/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 84 and 124 together.
I would like to take this opportunity to outline the work of my department in this area more broadly and the role of NEPS. All schools have access to:
• General support and advice from a NEPS psychologist, either through the school’s assigned psychologist or through the NEPS Advisory Support Line.
• Support from a NEPS psychologist in the event of a Critical Incident.
• National and Regional Support and Development service for school staff which covers areas such as trauma informed practice, cluster group support for post-primary special education teachers and special class teachers, training for Student Support Teams and supporting reluctant school attendance/school avoidance behaviour.
• Access for individual casework where a priority need is established to either a NEPS psychologist or a private educational psychologist on the Scheme for Commissioning Psychological Assessments (SCPA) panel.
NEPS does not operate waiting lists. In common with other psychological services and best international practice, NEPS operates on a consultative model of service. There is a focus on the individual assessment work that NEPS carries out in schools, however, assessments are only one aspect of the NEPS service.
NEPS encourages schools to support children and young people using the Continuum of Support, whereby school staff use a problem-solving approach, including school screening (assessment) and evidence-based intervention, for children and young people with learning, emotional or behavioural difficulties. The response to intervention is monitored and recorded in the Student Support File. The teachers, parents and child are involved in this process. This model means that pupils do not need a diagnosis of a disability in order to access additional support in school.
If a school has concerns that a child or young person is not making reasonable progress following evidence informed support and intervention, the school may prioritise the involvement of NEPS to support the identification of need process. The involvement of the NEPS psychologist can be helpful to support the identification of need process.
88. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Education and Youth the safeguards in place to prevent under-identification of children under the revised assessment of need framework, particularly in light of evidence that twice-exceptional children are already under-recognised within Irish education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22600/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraInclusive education is at the core of the department’s policy which requires differentiated teaching approaches to cater for the varying levels of ability in the classroom, from providing additional supports to those experiencing difficulty to ensuring appropriate levels of challenge and enrichment for exceptionally able students.
Under the section in the Programme for Government to support students with additional educational needs there is a commitment to introduce a specific programme to support students with exceptional abilities.
To provide a coherent vision for provision in the short and longer term, my Department established an internal working group and is currently developing policy and best practice on a number of fronts. This includes new initiatives and pilots in a number of schools and education centres.
My Department has recently commenced engagement with the NCCA with a view to reviewing, updating and publishing the guidelines in line with current best practice at the earliest possible opportunity.
The Assessment of Need process is under the remit of the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. Questions in relation to the revised Assessment of Need process should be directed to colleagues in that Department.
89. Deputy Séamus McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the proposed building extension for a school (details supplied) [22613/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe school referred to by the Deputy was approved to enter my Department's pipeline of projects under the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme. The project will provide a three class Special Education Needs (SEN) base. The project is devolved to the school authorities to deliver.
A revised Stage 1 preliminary design report was submitted in February 2026. This report is currently under review from both a technical and cost perspective. All projects, including this one, will undergo the necessary due diligence outlined in the Infrastructure Guidelines. Given the detailed nature of the evaluation process, the need to ensure full cost compliance, and the requirement to align the project with the prioritisation framework under the National Development Plan, this review process is necessarily thorough. Managing timing, scope, and cost is crucial to staying within budgetary limits for the overall programme.
As the Deputy will be aware, I have recently published the €7.55 billion NDP Sectoral Investment Plan for the Education and Youth Sectors for the period 2026 to 2030. This NDP Sectoral Plan involves a very strong emphasis on maximising existing capacity and prioritisation of school building projects to meet the most urgent needs. In this regard there will be a strong special education dimension to project rollout.
Of the total €7.55 billion investment it is envisaged that circa. €5 billion will be used for project rollout to support the delivery and modernisation of school buildings across the Large Scale, Additional Accommodation, Modular, and Annual September Accommodation Needs programmes. Over the course of 2026 and 2027 there will be construction work at circa. 10% of the school estate. These projects will, when completed, provide circa 57,000 additional and modernised school places with a strong SEN focus in all projects.
My department will continue to build on the progress made over recent years with the continued rollout of projects on a prioritised basis to meet the most urgent needs in terms of provision of additional capacity and modernisation of existing facilities. In this regard, I have also published a list of the 105 school building projects in the first tranche to proceed to construction or tender over 2026 and 2027.
The first tranche of 105 school building projects includes 80 large scale and Additional School Accommodation scheme projects. These projects were prioritised with a strong focus on maximising existing capacity and prioritising project rollout to meet the most urgent needs particularly to support special education needs provision.
Firstly, to facilitate the 45 projects that are currently already at tender stage (Stage 3) so that they can progress to construction as smoothly as possible over the course of 2026 and 2027. Secondly, to facilitate 35 projects that currently have planning permission and are at pre-tender stage (Stage 2b) and have been prioritised to meet urgent requirements from a special needs perspective or to provide additional capacity to cater for demographics or to address very significant condition issues at the schools.
I recognise that there are schools with important building projects that are not included in the first tranche of prioritised projects.
As part of planning ahead for the next tranche of projects to progress to tender, the department-led prioritisation process will continue over the course of 2026 and 2027 to assess and evaluate the progression of individual projects through the design pipeline having regard to the continual need to maximise existing capacity and determine the prioritised needs going forward. This process will involve engagement with key stakeholders and individual schools and will ultimately inform the next tranches of programme rollout to tender. The department-led Energy and Condition Survey of the school estate, which will be finalised later in 2026, will provide an additional evidence base for assessing priorities.
Based on this ongoing prioritisation process some projects may be added to the list over the course of 2026 and 2027 having regard to their prioritisation and urgency of need and taking account also of the ongoing ability to progress them to tender and construction within the parameters of overall funding. Where appropriate, the department will also assess opportunities to undertake advance enabling works for the most urgent and complex projects to facilitate a smooth progression to construction in 2028 and beyond.
Any interim accommodation requirements will continue to be assessed and considered by the department on a case-by-case basis to determine the prioritised needs and approach for addressing same.
The accommodation needs at this school will be considered as part of the ongoing overall department-led prioritisation process, in consultation with the school’s patron and school authorities.
90. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth the reason the tender for a long-awaited school project (details supplied) collapsed prior to works commencing in 2025. [22614/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe large-scale capital project for the school referred to by the Deputy is for the phased construction of a 1000 pupil Post Primary school with additional classrooms for children with Special Educational Needs.
Phase 1 of the project is currently being delivered under my Department's Modular Framework to deliver 9 general classrooms and 2 specialist classrooms.
Phase 1 also includes the repurposing of part of the existing accommodation to include classrooms for children with Special Educational Needs in the interim.
The subsequent phases of the Project to deliver the remaining accommodation is currently under review and my Department will be in contact with the School and Patron body once this has review has been completed.
With respect to the previous tender for Lucan CC, certain issues that arose during the procurement process, and the requirement to carefully manage the capital programme within constrained capital funding caused significant delays in completing the overall procurement process. More than four years had elapsed since the publication of the contract notice and more than two years since the tender submission deadline. Given the passage of time since tenders were returned an unacceptably high risk that the contract may not successfully be delivered within budget had been identified. On that basis, the decision was made to collapse the tender procedure.
As the Deputy will be aware, I have recently published the €7.55 billion NDP Sectoral Investment Plan for the Education and Youth Sectors for the period 2026 to 2030. This NDP Sectoral Plan involves a very strong emphasis on maximising existing capacity and prioritisation of school building projects to meet the most urgent needs. In this regard there will be a strong special education dimension to project rollout.
Of the total €7.55 billion investment it is envisaged that circa. €5 billion will be used for project rollout to support the delivery and modernisation of school buildings across the Large Scale, Additional Accommodation, Modular, and Annual September Accommodation Needs programmes.
My department will continue to build on the progress made over recent years with the continued rollout of these projects on a prioritised basis to meet the most urgent needs in terms of provision of additional capacity and modernisation of existing facilities. In this regard, I have also published a list of the 105 school building projects in the first tranche to proceed to construction or tender over 2026 and 2027. This list includes the modular project at Lucan Community College and there are currently 60 school projects in Dublin under construction.
These projects are in addition to €1824.69 million in capital funding for County Dublin schools between 2020 and 2025. Over that period, a total of 245 schools have been upgraded either through provision of a new school building, a large-scale extension or provision of modular accommodation. There are also currently 60 school projects in County Dublin under construction. Another 10 school projects will go to tender or construction in 2026 and 2027, and this summer, 53 schools are approved to undergo works as part of the Summer Works Scheme / Climate Action scheme.
The 105 prioritised projects will progress to tender and/or construction on a rolling basis over the course of 2026 and 2027 and within the context of NDP funding parameters. The timing of project progression will reflect the need to carefully manage the rollout of these projects to construction on a controlled basis to ensure that projects are delivered efficiently, align with the requirements of the Infrastructure Guidelines and Capital Works Management Framework and remain within the parameters of NDP funding.
Department officials will continue to engage closely patron bodies, management bodies and schools with respect to the timing of the progression of projects to tender and/or construction over the period 2026 to 2027. This will include continued engagement with Lucan Community College with respect to the progression of its project to in construction.
The current status of all projects continues to be set out under item number ten at the following link: www.gov.ie. This is updated on a regular basis to reflect project progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.
91. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth when sign off for previously agreed phases and refurbishments regarding a school building project will be forthcoming (details supplied); the current timeline for the commencement and completion of the project; if commitments are available regarding timelines, given the desperate need for further capacity and upgraded facilities and the lengthy wait of the school community for the project; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22615/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe large-scale capital project for the school referred to by the Deputy is for the phased construction of a 1000 pupil Post Primary school with additional classrooms for children with Special Educational Needs.
Phase 1 of the project is currently being delivered under my Department's Modular Framework to deliver 9 general classrooms and 2 specialist classrooms.
Phase 1 also includes the repurposing of part of the existing accommodation to include classrooms for children with Special Educational Needs in the interim.
The subsequent phases of the Project to deliver the remaining accommodation is currently under review and my Department will be in contact with the School and Patron body once this has review has been completed.
“The Phase 1 modular project for Lucan CC is a very significant addition for the school.
Subsequent phases will be considered, in due course, as part of our overall prioritisation processes for future tranches of project rollout that are deliverable within parameters of NDP funding”
As the Deputy will be aware, I have recently published the €7.55 billion NDP Sectoral Investment Plan for the Education and Youth Sectors for the period 2026 to 2030. This NDP Sectoral Plan involves a very strong emphasis on maximising existing capacity and prioritisation of school building projects to meet the most urgent needs. In this regard there will be a strong special education dimension to project rollout.
Of the total €7.55 billion investment it is envisaged that circa. €5 billion will be used for project rollout to support the delivery and modernisation of school buildings across the Large Scale, Additional Accommodation, Modular, and Annual September Accommodation Needs programmes.
My department will continue to build on the progress made over recent years with the continued rollout of these projects on a prioritised basis to meet the most urgent needs in terms of provision of additional capacity and modernisation of existing facilities. In this regard, I have also published a list of the 105 school building projects in the first tranche to proceed to construction or tender over 2026 and 2027. This list includes the modular project at Lucan Community College and there are currently 60 school projects in Dublin under construction.
These projects are in addition to €1824.69 million in capital funding for County Dublin schools between 2020 and 2025. Over that period, a total of 245 schools have been upgraded either through provision of a new school building, a large-scale extension or provision of modular accommodation. There are also currently 60 school projects in County Dublin under construction. Another 10 school projects will go to tender or construction in 2026 and 2027, and this summer, 53 schools are approved to undergo works as part of the Summer Works Scheme / Climate Action scheme.
The 105 prioritised projects will progress to tender and/or construction on a rolling basis over the course of 2026 and 2027 and within the context of NDP funding parameters. The timing of project progression will reflect the need to carefully manage the rollout of these projects to construction on a controlled basis to ensure that projects are delivered efficiently, align with the requirements of the Infrastructure Guidelines and Capital Works Management Framework and remain within the parameters of NDP funding.
Department officials will continue to engage closely patron bodies, management bodies and schools with respect to the timing of the progression of projects to tender and/or construction over the period 2026 to 2027. This will include continued engagement with Lucan Community College with respect to the progression of its project to in construction.
The current status of all projects continues to be set out under item number ten at the following link: www.gov.ie. This is updated on a regular basis to reflect project progress through the various stages of capital appraisal, site acquisition, design, tender and construction.
92. Deputy Marian Harkin asked the Minister for Education and Youth the status of the emergency works application submitted by a school (details supplied) originally approved in January 2025 for €750,000; if the tender report submitted to the Emergency Works section in December 2025 reflecting an updated project cost of €1,029,675 has been reviewed by the Department's quantity surveyor; the reason for the delay in issuing approval despite follow ups in January and February 2026; when the school can expect a decision, given the urgent need to proceed with essential universal access works to ensure the safety and inclusion of students, staff, and parents with mobility challenges; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22622/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe school to which the Deputy refers submitted an application for funding under the Emergency Works Scheme (EWS) for universal access works.
The application in question is currently being reviewed by the Departments Quantity Surveyor. Once a recommendation has been received back from the Quantity Surveyor, the EWS team will engage further with the school as appropriate. The EWS team is aware of the urgent nature of the works required and will keep the school informed throughout the process.
93. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Education and Youth to consider providing funding to schools who qualify for a world championship (details supplied) which takes place abroad; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22640/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department has been considering ways to support the participation of students who have progressed in informal STEM events. The details of any such supports developed would be published in due course.
94. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth the criteria used by the National Council for Special Education when determining annual special education teacher allocations; the data sources; the way in which multiple-year reductions are considered in respect of school stability; the average processing times and outcomes of appeals over the past three years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22665/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra95. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will direct the National Council for Special Education to publish clear decision rationales for special education teacher allocation appeals; to reduce duplication in evidence required from schools; and to introduce an independent review layer for appeals that are initially unsuccessful; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22666/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra96. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will introduce a stability mechanism that prevents schools from incurring recurrent annual losses of special education teacher hours except in exceptional circumstances; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22667/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra100. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of schools that experienced reductions in special education teacher hours; the total number of hours reduced; the number of appeals lodged; the number of appeals upheld, by county and by year for the past three years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22671/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra101. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if her Department has conducted an impact assessment of repeated reductions in special education teacher hours on student learning outcomes and inclusion; if she will publish the findings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22672/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra103. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of special education teachers employed each year since 2020; the number of posts created, reduced, or removed; the number of teachers redeployed or reassigned; the number of schools that gained or lost special education teaching hours, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22674/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra104. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will initiate a review of National Council for Special Education decision-making in relation to special education teacher allocations and the appeals framework, with a view to improving transparency, timeliness, and school engagement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22677/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra105. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will provide standardised, simplified guidance and a support helpline for schools preparing appeals for special education teacher allocations, and to minimise duplication of evidence requested across stages; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22678/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 94, 95, 96, 100, 101, 103, 104 and 105 together.
At the outset I would like to confirm that there has been not cut to Special Education Teaching resources in our education system. On the contrary the allocation of special education teachers has increased from across all setting has increased from by 23% since 2021 and will be almost 21,700 in September 2026.
This is a demonstration that this government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential and the Programme for Government makes a number of commitments to deliver on this objective.
The SET allocation model is a standardised allocation model that provides schools with additional teaching hours to support the teaching needs of students in mainstream classes.
The mainstream class teacher has primary responsibility for the progress and care of all children in their classrooms, including children with additional learning needs.
It is a distribution model to ensure that the children with the greatest level of need in mainstream can get access to additional teaching support. It provides a transparent means of allocating SET resources to best meet the needs of children and to ensure consistency and equity in the system.
The SET allocation model distributes the total available number of Special Education Teaching posts in line with each school’s profile of need.
The model makes an allocation based on a number of inputs, including enrolment numbers. It also uses school-level data from standardised tests (in the Primary school model) and Junior Cycle data (in the Post Primary model) to reflect levels of overall additional learning need in the schools. It also incorporates data on students who have been granted exemptions from tests as this indicates additional learning need is required by them. As all children and young people from disadvantaged areas may not attend a DEIS school, the model applies a small value to schools based on individual pupils Eircode and the HP deprivation index and this is to ensure that schools who are not in receipt of the additional DEIS resources are allocated resources to support their potential additional need.
Approximately 97% of all children, including those with special education needs, are educated in mainstream classes.
With the model some schools may see a reduction in their allocations due to change in the individual school profile due to changing demographics and reduction in enrolments with other schools seeing increased allocation due primarily to increasing enrolments. The majority of schools who see a reduction this is less than 5 hours or less in their allocation.
The revised model incorporates a stability mechanism, to ensure that adjustments are kept to a minimum. This is applied within the model by utilising 3-year average test data in creating the schools educational profile of need rather than using a single year. As the education profile is the largest weighting within the allocation model by using the 3-year average it minimises the level of change at individual school level.
This results in the key premise of supporting children and young people with the greatest level of additional learning need to receive the greatest level of support by ensuring that SET allocations are allocated to the right school at the right time.
When the model was introduced in 2017, the school data was only reprofiled on a 2/3-year cycle. The intervals between updates to school profiles historically created unintended consequences and impacts for schools.
In 2024 a decision was made to move to annual updating of school profiles, and this was welcomed by our education partners as it would have a twofold effect:
Greater consistency and stability for schools in terms of their allocation from year to year and a greater understanding for schools of any potential change to their profile from one update to the next.
The change to an annual process makes the model more sensitive to changes in an individual school’s enrolment and educational teaching needs profile, and adjustments will be applied in a timelier manner.
Every school is different, and individual schools can experience unique circumstances that may be difficult to reflect in a standardised method. This is always a challenge when making allocations in respect of almost 4,000 schools. It is for this reason that the Department, working with the National Council of Special Education (NCSE) streamlined the review process for special education teachers and schools who have any concerns can engage with the NCSE on their allocation.
It is important to clarify that the NCSE has streamlined the review process for SET over the last number of years and all information requested by the NCSE should already be available in schools as the data required are key components of the individual student support file in the school
For the 2025/26 school year a total of 144 review requests were received from schools which was 3.79% of all schools who received a SET Allocation. The NCSE recommended an increase for 120 schools which was 83.3% and the total additional hours allocated were 1,011 hours.
The NCSE complete the reviews, and the outcomes are advised to schools before the end of the preceding school year so that they could plan for the upcoming new school year.
For example, the review window where schools could request a review by the NCSE was from mid Feb to March 2025.
All reviews for the 2025/2026 school year were completed between March and June 2025 other than 2 schools who submitted late requests and the NCSE agreed with the principals that they would complete the reviews and advise the outcome in early July.
The NCSE publishes the SET data for all schools annually and the information for each of the preceding years is available on the NCSE website.
97. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will provide additional administrative support and protected leadership time for teaching principals (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22668/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra98. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will provide a leadership and management recognition mechanism for principals to reflect the management of special needs assistants, bus escorts, secretaries, caretakers, and cluster teacher posts in base schools, given the significant workload involved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22669/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra99. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will provide explicit time allocations and administrative support to base schools for the management of cluster teacher posts, including the associated inter-school coordination, scheduling, and reporting; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22670/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra102. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will ring-fence administrative time during the school day for principals to complete child protection oversight reports, maintain records of concerns raised, and complete statutory annual reviews and mandatory reports, so that these obligations do not displace teaching time; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22673/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 97, 98, 99 and 102 together.
I 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.
