Resolutions – Congress 2025

Congress:

a. deplores the disparity of capitation funding between primary and voluntary secondary schools:

b. demands:

1. that the primary school capitation rates be revised upwards to the same levels of voluntary secondary schools;
2. that the CEC commissions a comprehensive financial report to ascertain the true running costs of schools and to propose a new model for financing of schools;

c. further demands that a calendar of grants to be paid to primary schools be published in June of the previous school year;

d. instructs that if significant progress has not been made on the improved financing of schools by Budget 2026, the CEC coordinates a campaign with all management bodies, the National Parents’ Council, IPPN and other interested bodies to:

1. highlight the issue through the media; and
2. agree a programme of protests to bring about an end to poorly financed schools.

Congress:

a. acknowledges the findings of the INTO’s research on teacher and principal workload which highlights the impact of work intensification on members’ health and wellbeing and instructs the CEC to intensify campaigning for:

1. the reduction of class sizes to 19 in mainstream schools and 15 in DEIS Band 1 schools;
2. an agreed amount of time with substitute cover to be made available to school staffs each term for collaborative activities such as whole school planning and professional development;
3. the provision of two weekly leadership and management days per teaching principal;
4. the reduction of the appointment figures for administrative principals to 150 pupils and administrative deputy principals to 400 pupils;
5. the availability of release time for deputy principals in schools who do not have administrative deputy principals;

b. demands that the CEC negotiates with the Department of Education to:

1. provide time and resources for teacher professional development regarding the Guidance on Preparation for Teaching and Learning;
2. deliver guidance around school policies for communication with parents to ensure expectations remain realistic and manageable; and
3. supply holistic support for children with special educational needs such as therapy services, behaviour supports and socio-emotional counselling.

Congress:

a. utterly condemns the ongoing genocide in Gaza and attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, the resultant destruction of the Palestinian education system and the denial of the right to education to Palestinian children and young people;

b. commends:

1. Irish civil society, and the trade union movement in particular, for the tremendous solidarity shown to the Palestinian people during this horrific period;
2. the INTO Palestine Ambassadors Group, Global Solidarity Officer and Northern Committee for continuing to highlight this issue;
3. the many INTO branches and districts that have declared themselves Apartheid Free Zones and continue to highlight the issue of solidarity with the Palestinian people;

c. endorses:

1. a key message of the INTO organised Conference on the Rights of Palestinian Children that the Boycott Divestment Sanctions policy is key to defeating apartheid in Palestine;
2. the ICTU call for the immediate enactment of the Occupied Territories Bill; and

d. instructs the CEC to continue to campaign, nationally and through the European Trade Union movement, for EU funding to be made available to support the rebuilding of the Palestinian education infrastructure under Palestinian control.

Congress:

a. acknowledges the CEC’s continued work and progress so far in relation to pay equality;

b. demands that the CEC negotiates a clear pathway which will achieve a shorter pay scale for all members;

c. calls for the full restoration of academic and other allowances for primary teachers.

Congress:

a. notes with alarm:

1. the access children have to adult content on many popular social media platforms;
2. the lack of rigour in age confirmation practices implemented by social media companies;
3. the mounting evidence indicating poor mental health outcomes for children linked to their exposure to online content;

b. notes with interest the increasing debate urging legislation which might restrict children’s access to inappropriate sites and content; and

c. urges the CEC to develop a policy to allow the INTO to contribute authoritatively to this debate on children’s access to online sites and content.

Congress:

a. welcomes the commitment of the Government to developing a DEIS+ scheme in its Programme for Government 2025;

b. calls on the CEC to enter negotiations with the relevant Departments to ensure the supports identified by the principals working in our most disadvantaged schools are delivered through this scheme including but not limited to:

1. on-site multi-disciplinary teams, similar to the model currently operating in the NEIC area;
2. ex-quota nurture teachers to work with children affected by intergenerational trauma;
3. ex-quota SNAs (or similar) to assist with the trauma needs of those children identified in section 2;
4. funding for the development and sustainment of nurture spaces;
5. access to on-site therapeutic supports including, play therapy, music therapy and art therapy for those children who are identified by a school team;
6. one in-service closure day per year to allow the schools to develop whole school trauma impact profiles and plan accordingly; and
7. the development of a team incorporating principals, INTO officials, Social Inclusion, Child Poverty Unit, the Department of Education and those others who would be charged with the reviewing and expanding the DEIS+ programme where deemed appropriate.

Congress:

a. finds that the workload and expectations placed upon principal teachers are unreasonably demanding;

b. demands that:

1. the Department of Education provides increased administrative support to principal teachers;
2. all staff be counted for the purposes of calculating principals’ and deputy principals’ allowances; and
3. the enrolment thresholds for appointment of administrative principals and deputy principals be reduced.

Congress:

a. notes that the small schools action research project launched in July 2021 has been extended for a further two years;

b. commends the opportunities provided to engage school leaders in the six clusters to collaborate, identify common challenges and trial innovative solutions;

c. welcomes the positive impact this project has on supporting school leaders and for the sustainability of small schools;

d. demands that the Department of Education:

1. expands the project as outlined in the draft Programme for Government to introduce a new national Small Schools Project for all 1,300 small primary schools to protect these school communities;
2. develops new administrative supports by appointing a coordinator to each of the clusters established; and
3. appoints a full time Cluster Administration Officer to each of the clusters.

Congress:

a. notes the unprecedented and ever increasing demands and workload pressures on teachers and principals;

b. deplores the impact of these demands and workload pressures on members’ health, wellbeing and quality of life;

c. further notes the difficulties associated with the recruitment and retention of principals and teachers;

d. considers the workload problem for teachers and principals to be at crisis level;

e. recognises that increasing workloads is unsustainable without destroying the profession; and

f. calls on the CEC to take whatever actions necessary, up to and including directives and industrial action, to resolve the workload problem as a matter of urgency.

Congress:

a. deplores the fact that the Reproductive Health Related Leave Bill 2021 was delayed by Government and has now subsequently lapsed with the dissolution of the Government in November 2024;

b. calls on the CEC to engage with this current Government and opposition parties on this issue to ensure it is reinstated as a current issue and signed into law; and

c. instructs the CEC to campaign for and engage in a media and political lobbying campaign to highlight the importance of this issue.

Congress:

a. recognises the success of the 2015 INTO campaign in amending Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act and commits to extending protections to teachers of minority faiths and those with no religious affiliation; and

b. acknowledges that requiring teachers to obtain the Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies is a discriminatory barrier to employment, limiting access based on religious grounds.

Congress:

a. deplores the current model for the delivery of curriculum change in primary schools;

b. demands that the current model for the implementation of the new primary maths curriculum be urgently amended and that any future curriculum roll out should include:

1. in-service training that allows for an agreed number of whole school planning days facilitated by Oide advisors on a face-to-face basis;
2. school closures to facilitate whole school planning for teaching staffs;
3. financial support that allows for an annual curriculum grant for the purchase of new resources and materials; and
4. remuneration for any teacher who is tasked with any additional training and upskilling outside of planning days.

Congress calls on the Central Executive Committee to:

a. intensify its advocacy for immediate government action to resolve the ongoing teacher shortage in primary and special schools, emphasising the necessity for:

1. increasing the recruitment of students to teacher training colleges with attractive incentives and campaigns nationwide;
2. launching an international recruitment campaign targeting eligible teachers to return to work in Ireland;
3. reviewing and enhancing the incremental credit scheme to incentivise teachers to return to Ireland and make the role more attractive to students considering teaching;
4. addressing housing and living cost challenges, particularly in urban areas, to make the teaching profession more attractive;

b. re-iterate the need for the Department of Education to take a fundamentally different approach to this issue, which recognises the impact of teacher shortage and focuses on enhancing the attractiveness of the teaching profession in Ireland; and

c. take meaningful action, up to and including a ballot for industrial action, to progress the objectives on this issue agreed at Congress 2024 – including the pursuit of an urban living allowance.

Congress:

a. recognises the ever-increasing demands and workload on middle management post holders;

b. demands that the CEC negotiates with the Department of Education to:

1. increase the allowances for AP2 post holders to adequately reward them for the leadership tasks they undertake under the four domains;
2. further expand middle leadership teams in primary schools to ensure the capacity of schools to meet the demands of the system for the implementation of the curriculum, the continued augmentation of special education provision and the co-ordination of various other initiatives;
3. ensure in the first instance that the minimum percentage of promoted posts to teaching posts in each school be 40%; and

c. further demands that a separate allocation of posts of responsibility, based on the number of special education teachers and special classes, be allocated to every school to co-ordinate special education provision.

Aithníonn an Chomhdháil an tábhacht a bhaineann le Gaeilge a chur chun cinn agus gurb í an Ghaeilge an príomhtheanga i nGaelscoileanna. Éilíonn an Chomhdháil go gcuirfí:

a. an Ghaeilge san áireamh mar chuid lárnach de na huaireanta tacaíochta foghlama i nGaelscoileanna; agus

b. uaireanta breise ar fáil chun díriú go cothrom ar fhorbairt na Gaeilge agus an Bhéarla, ag cinntiú go dtacaítear leis an dá theanga ar bhealach cuí agus cothrom i measc na ndaltaí i nGaelscoileanna.

Congress:

a. notes the discriminatory and iniquitous situation, whereby pupils with moderate intellectual disabilities in special schools are not offered an equal number of years in school as their typically developing and same age peers are, on the grounds of age; and

b. demands that the CEC negotiates with the Department of Education and the NCSE to remove or amend Rule 64 (1) of the Rules for National Schools 1965, as it pertains to a pupil, “not being retained on the rolls after the 18th anniversary of his birth”.

Congress:

a. acknowledges the improvement that supply panels have brought to some areas regarding the substitution crisis, following intervention by the INTO; and

b. demands that supply panels be further reviewed in order to ensure that all schools can benefit from the panels in a fair and transparent way.

Congress:

a. deplores the recent situation schools are facing, where they are restricted from appointing SNAs to fill their approved allocation due to a recent enforcement of a recruitment cap; and

b. demands that the CEC negotiates with all relevant bodies to ensure that there are no barriers to the appointment of Special Needs Assistants when approved to meet identified needs in a school.