Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on correspondence regarding teaching posts (details supplied). [46516/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The redeployment of all surplus permanent teachers is key to the ability of the Department to manage within its payroll budget and ceiling on teacher numbers. The redeployment of these teachers was completed during the summer. However, some additional surplus also arises in the Autumn as a result of the suppression of teaching posts given to schools on the basis of projected September 2012 enrolments and the required level of actual enrolments not materialising. The mechanism for the redeployment of such surplus permanent teachers in the Autumn can result in a post that was filled initially by a teacher on a fixed-term contract to 26 October is then thereafter filled by the redeployment of a surplus permanent teacher.

Boards of Management should make clear to teachers the contractual arrangements in relation to the filling of such posts. The allocation of all teaching posts is contingent on compliance with redeployment arrangements. This is monitored by the Department. The Department's assessment of compliance with the redeployment arrangements relates firstly to the requirement to notify the vacancy to the panel operator and then the requirement to offer the vacancy to teachers in the following sequence – firstly to surplus permanent teachers on the main panel, then to teachers on the subsidiary panel and thereafter to teachers on the supplementary panel before filling posts through open recruitment. Where it was found, based on information supplied by schools to the Department, that schools that are seeking to fill posts through open recruitment had not complied fully with the redeployment arrangements such schools are permitted to fill their vacancy only on a fixed-term basis.