Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

Over half of the gaelscoileanna are under Catholic patronage and redeployment from these schools is through the relevant diocesan panels. An Foras Pátrúnachta is seeking a separate panel for gaelscoileanna under its patronage. A key issue for my Department is how best to facilitate this request in a manner that avoids the inherent inefficiencies of a separate panel for a relatively small number of schools out of the 3,200.

Given our budgetary situation we need to have sufficient flexibility in the redeployment arrangements to ensure that surplus permanent teachers in all schools regardless of patronage type can be redeployed to vacancies wherever they exist.

A separate panel for An Foras Pátrúnachta will be considered in the context of ongoing discussions with the relevant education partners in regard to the additional arrangements that are now necessary to achieve the redeployment of all surplus permanent teachers, including those in gaelscoileanna under the patronage of An Foras Pátrúnachta.

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