232. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Education and Youth if her Department has considered the timing of the issuing of circulars to schools; and if efforts will be taken to avoid sending circulars at the end of term time or late on Fridays. [54230/26]

I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation for the vital work that school do every day. I understand the demands of the role and the importance of protecting the time of staff, especially outside of term.

With this in mind, my department has worked closely with our key education partners to put in place processes for how and when the department communicates with schools, including the issuing of circulars. These steps are designed to ensure that schools only receive communications when necessary and are not contacted unnecessarily during school holidays.

My department endeavours to:

• Send direct communications only during core term time in line with the standardised school year.

• Send communication between working hours of 09.00AM and 5.00PM Monday - Thursday.

• Where possible, avoid issuing communications on Fridays.

• Limit communications in the last week of term.

• Limit the number of daily communications issued by the department.

We also issue a fortnightly update to schools which includes all circulars issued during that period, to ensure that schools do not miss any important information. Feedback from schools about this fortnightly update has been very positive.

There are times when circulars may be issued outside of the timeframe advised above. These include circulars which are issued across the public service, such as those relating to the Public Service Agreement, which my department is required to issue at the time prescribed.

We continue to engage with our partners to ensure that the timing of circulars supports the work of schools and welcome any further feedback you may have on this matter.