The Department of Education has written to schools asking the chairperson of their boards of management to sign a written guarantee that their schools remained open in the days leading up to Christmas.
The guarantee, which takes the form of a tick-box to be filled out by the school in question, asks for confirmation that the school observed both the standardised October closure period, and the standardised Christmas closure period.
Significantly, it also asks for confirmation that all classes were in attendance during these times, as well as a commitment to agree with the terms of the agreement in relation to the February and Easter breaks. The letter, dated January 9th, states that the Department became aware in December that there was "uncertainty" in relation to the implementation by some schools of the agreed Christmas closure period.
As a result, the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, requested the Department inspectorate to conduct a "sampling exercise" to establish whether schools were complying with the agreement. This took place on December 23rd, with inspectors visiting schools in virtually every county of the State.
The Minister has said that all teachers who failed to report for work on that day will lose their 10 per cent benchmarking award due to be paid in the coming weeks.
"On the basis of the outcome of that process, and subsequent reports made directly to the Department by parents, it has become clear that some schools have breached the agreement," the letter states.
In response, Mr John Carr, General Secretary of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation has written to its members to protest at what he sees as a "most unhelpful and unnecessary" intervention.