Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his question. We have recruited 2,260 teachers so far this year. We have not yet encountered difficulty in recruiting teachers. There can be occasional recruitment difficulties in particular subject areas. We continue to see a high level of interest in pursuing a career in education through the CAO system. The points requirement for entry into initial teacher education courses is at the upper end. It is important that we are continuing to attract very talented people to teaching. I think this has been one of the strengths of our system. We recognise the importance of being able to attract quality new entrants across the public service, particularly in important professional areas like education. I believe there is no more important area in which we can invest.

As the Deputy knows, during the financial crisis there was a need to enact a number of measures to reduce public expenditure and stabilise the country's public finances. The pay of new entrants to the public service, including teachers, has been reduced since 2011. Considerable steps have been taken to reduce that gap since 2011 under the Haddington Road and Lansdowne Road agreements. As a result of the successful conclusion in September of the negotiations I entered into with the TUI and the INTO under the most recent agreement, the decision to withdraw the qualification allowance has been reversed. As I have outlined previously, significant increases have been sanctioned for people who entered teaching last year and this year. This is worth €4,300 for someone who entered teaching this year. In the case of someone who entered teaching last year, the increase is worth €6,700, bringing his or her salary to €36,700. That is a very significant improvement.

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