Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 775: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the opportunities available to teachers who wish to job share; her Department's policy on same; the number of teachers at primary level and at post-primary level who are job sharing at the moment; the restrictions placed on job sharing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9570/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The job sharing scheme for Primary Teachers was first implemented by the Minister for Education and Science for the 1997/98 school year and has continued to apply since then.

Boards of Management of Primary Schools are required to develop a policy on job-sharing specific to the needs of the particular school so that staff may be fully aware of the Board's position on the matter. Board's of Management are required to ensure that the welfare and educational needs of pupils take precedence over all other considerations.

The following are the conditions at primary level that a teacher must fulfil before a job-sharing application received from a school will be approved:

The teachers must be fully qualified and probated primary school teachers

They must have two years service as a permanent or temporary (Fixed-term) teacher

Principal teachers, Home School Liaison teachers, Supply teachers are not permitted to job-share. However, a Supply teacher may move temporarily from the Supply Scheme to job share with another teacher. In addition teachers who are currently on secondment or are going on secondment cannot job share for the duration of the secondment.

There are 662 primary teachers job-sharing in the 2006/2007 school year.The job sharing scheme at second level is operated in accordance with the terms of Circular Letter 18/98 which is available on my Department's website www.education.ie

There are 934 teachers job sharing in the voluntary secondary and community and comprehensive sectors in the current year. The number of teachers job sharing in VEC schools in the current year is not readily available in my Department.