The number of religious chairs of boards of management in Catholic primary schools has decreased significantly in recent years, leaving some schools now facing a crisis in recruiting lay people to fill the role, according to new figures.
The figures, from the Catholic Primary School Managers' Association (CPSMA), show that between 1997 and 2003, the number of religious chairs of boards of management dropped by more than 20 per cent.
In dioceses such as Dublin, Cork and Ross, and Tuam, the number has dropped by between 30 per cent and 60 per cent.
This has prompted fears that unless State-funded training for lay members of school boards is reintroduced by Minister for Education and Science Mary Hanafin, some schools may have nobody to chair their boards of management by 2007.
New boards, which now serve a four-year term, are due to be formed in December of that year.
Chairs of boards of management, who work on a voluntary basis, have traditionally been drawn from the membership of religious orders and diocesan priests. However a fall-off in vocations, coupled with the increasing age profile of religious orders, could mean such boards will be replaced by single managers instead.
While there has been a significant increase in the number of lay chairs of boards of management - from 395 in 1997 to 892 in 2003 - the managers' association has warned that many more are reluctant to get involved.
Despite a huge increase in the demands placed on them by legislation in recent years, chairs of boards of management receive no direct funding from the Department of Education and Science for training in their work.
They also receive no allowance for expenses they incur as part of their work, meaning they are frequently "out of pocket" as a result of their commitment to overseeing the running of primary schools here.
According to Fr Dan O'Connor of the managers' association, this means that by 2007, schools here will face a crisis in recruiting lay people to their boards of management. At a meeting last month with Ms Hanafin, he called for the re-establishment of the National Steering Committee for the training of boards of management.
This was established by the department in 1997 but its funding was removed in 2002.
The CPSMA, the Irish National Teachers Organisation and the other management bodies provide their own training to boards of management in certain areas.
However Fr O'Connor said he believed the increasing burden placed on chairs of boards required the reintroduction of funding for the steering committee as a matter of urgency.
"Chairpersons of boards of management need more training to meet their obligations and deal with an increasingly heavy workload," he said.