541. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Education and Youth who is the legal employer of teachers in voluntary secondary schools; and if the employer is deemed to be the board of management, the school patron, the Department of Education or another body. [64917/26]

Schools will predominately have the same management structure - a Patron, Board of Management and a Principal Teacher.

The Patron is the body that establishes and operates the school and is responsible for the school’s characteristic spirit and ethos. The Patron appoints the Board of Management of the school.

The Board of Management manages the school on behalf of the Patron and is accountable to the Patron and the Minister. The Board must uphold the characteristic spirit (ethos) of the school and is accountable to the Patron for so doing. Under Section 24 of the Education Act, 1998 (as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act, 2012) the Board of Management is the employer of Teachers and other staff of the school. In the case of schools established or maintained by an ETB the relevant ETB is the employer in accordance with section 6 of the Education (Amendment) Act, 2012.

The Principal is responsible for the day-to-day management of the school, including providing guidance and direction to the teachers and other staff of the school and is accountable for that management.