Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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Question 181: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there are any circumstances in which a public sector worker in a school setting (details supplied) who wishes to stay on in his or her role despite having reached the retirement age of 65 years can be accommodated, taking into consideration that an arrangement has been made with the school in question and the person is willing to continue working; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10678/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The compulsory retirement date for a teacher reaching the age of 65 on 1st May, 2012 is 31 August 2012 where the teacher is not a new entrant under the Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004. In the case of a person who is a new entrant within the meaning of that Act, there is no compulsory retirement age but a minimum pension age of 65 years.

In recognition of the additional pressure of students facing state examinations, and the concerns of teachers who wish to ensure continuity of support for these children, I have made provision, for this year only, to reduce disruption to students undertaking State examinations in June. This is in the form of alleviation measures allowing post-primary schools to re-employ teachers who retire between 1 December 2011 and 29 February 2012 and who, immediately before their retirement, have been teaching students preparing to sit the Junior or Leaving Certificate examinations in 2012.

Circular 0031/2011, issued in May of last year, requires that schools prioritise registered teachers over unregistered persons and unemployed teachers over retired teachers when appointing teachers to substitute and fixed-term posts. In particular, it prohibits schools from employing retired teachers to cover short-term absences unless all efforts to employ an appropriately qualified and registered teacher have failed. This circular also requires a school principal to keep a record as to why a retired teacher had to be employed and to report to the school's board of management on the instances where this arises.