The Minister for Education, Dr Woods, has appointed a former senior civil servant to conduct a detailed review of his Department, in a move which could set new priorities.
Mr Sean Cromien, a former secretary of the Department of Finance, has just begun work on the review, which was described by one senior source as an "efficiency audit" of the Department.
A key question facing the review will be whether the Department has the time and the manpower to frame policy - or whether it is overly involved with the administrative task of running 4,000 schools.
Mr Cromien was asked to take on the review by senior staff in the Department. He was appointed by Dr Woods a few weeks ago and has already held preliminary discussions with senior staff.
The appointment of Mr Cromien comes amid increasing concern in the Department about its volume of work. In recent years it has been responsible for many new initiatives and programmes.
However, it is modestly staffed compared to many other Departments, with around 900 staff - compared, for example, to about 4,000 in the Department of Agriculture. In recent months Department staff had been working to rule in protest at staffing levels, but this dispute has now been resolved.
Last year, the Department managed to secure 96 additional staff. It will hope that the Cromien review helps it make a strong case for a further staff increase. It is expected that the review will be completed before the end of the year.
Mr Cromien was secretary of the Department of Finance between 1987 and 1994. Last year he completed a comprehensive review of the operation of the Department of Agriculture.
This review was established by the Government on foot of concerns raised by the Public Accounts Committee.
Mr Cromien recommended that the Department should focus on three main areas: policy, food safety and payments.
In 1996, Mr Cromien and Dr Edmond Molloy headed an inquiry into the failure by the Department of Justice to de-list Judge Dominic Lynch from the Special Criminal Court.
Mr Cromien is expected to develop some of the recommendations made in a consultants' report on the Department five years ago. The report recommended restructuring.
In recent years, the Department of Education has found it more difficult to focus on such functions as policy analysis and strategic planning because of its administrative workload.
Last year, the Government appointed a National Educational Psychological Service but it has been slow to divest the Department of other functions.
According to sources, Mr Cromien is unlikely to make the case for the establishment of other new agencies outside the Department, such as an independent exams branch.
The 1995 White Paper on Education said the operation of the Department had failed to keep pace with the transformation of the wider education system.
The Department, it said, had been unable to give due attention to policy analysis, policy development, strategic planning and evaluation of outcomes, which should have been its main concerns.