Ulick Burke (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 87: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the number of unqualified and untrained personnel at present employed in primary schools and second level schools; if she will instruct the principals of these schools or the boards of management to advertise these positions so as to give fully trained unemployed teachers the opportunity to apply for these positions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41390/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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There are currently 90 personnel employed in temporary full-time positions in primary schools and 150 employed in regular part-time posts that are in receipt of the unqualified rate of pay. There are 92 personnel employed in temporary and regular part-time positions in secondary, community and comprehensive schools at present that are in receipt of the unqualified rate of pay. These figures do not include people employed on a casual substitute basis or those employed in place of teachers in the vocational education sector. It is the policy of my Department that schools should only employ people who are on the register of teachers maintained by the Teaching Council. An integral part of the registration process is an assessment of a person's qualifications. Unqualified personnel should not be appointed except in the most exceptional circumstances and then only when all avenues for recruiting qualified personnel have been exhausted. This should only be for quite limited time periods. Earlier this year my Department directed schools that persons proposed for appointment to publicly paid teaching posts must be registered with the Teaching Council and have qualifications appropriate to the sector and the post. Only where an employer can satisfactorily demonstrate that every reasonable effort has been made to recruit an appropriately qualified and registered teacher, an unqualified or unregistered person may be recruited pending the recruitment of an appropriately qualified and registered teacher. In addition, a reminder recently issued to school authorities to prioritise qualified teachers, particularly newly or recently qualified teachers, when making substitute and other temporary appointments. I believe that first call must be given to teachers who are not in work and I appreciate the efforts of those schools who have responded positively to date.

The Education (Amendment) Bill, currently before the House, will provide for the first time for regulations to limit the engagement of unregistered people and will require schools to prioritise the employment of registered teachers over unregistered people while still ensuring that schools can operate.