Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 155: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the current number of students preparing to become primary teachers through the BEd programme in colleges of education; the numbers currently enrolled in the Hibernia College primary teacher programme; the number of graduates from each of these courses in the past three years; his plans to limit primary teacher supply in view of concerns regarding unemployment among newly qualified teachers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29946/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Anecdotal evidence indicates that there is an oversupply of teachers currently and that there are newly qualified teachers not yet holding teaching positions in schools. The level of student intake to the state-funded Colleges of Education is determined annually by my Department and it takes account of the supply of, and demand for, primary teachers. The level of intake to these Colleges has decreased in recent years in light of available resources and factors impacting on demand. This situation is subject to review.

My Department has introduced a circular which obliges schools to recruit unemployed teachers ahead of retired ones, in an effort to ease the difficulties for those who cannot find work in the profession.

In addition, the Deputy might also wish to note that the JobBridge National Internship Scheme has recently been extended to teachers. This provides newly-qualified teachers with opportunities to gain experience and to undertake the necessary teaching duties to complete the process of probation and fulfil the requirements for full registration with the Teaching Council.

The statistics requested by the Deputy are set out in the table below with the exception of the data from Hibernia College which will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as it is received from the College. This data does not include the number of graduates from the postgraduate diploma in education (primary).