Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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296. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason teaching positions are being falsely advertised when they are already filled by internal candidates; if he will reintroduce the voluntary redeployment scheme for all teachers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31500/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Teaching vacancies are filled in the first instance through the redeployment of surplus permanent teachers. The core function of the redeployment arrangements is to facilitate the redeployment of all surplus permanent teachers to other schools that have vacancies. The redeployment of all surplus permanent teachers is key to the Department's ability to manage within its payroll budget and ceiling on teacher numbers. Thereafter the recruitment and appointment of teachers to fill teaching posts is a matter for the individual school authority, subject to procedures agreed under Section 24(3) of the Education Act 1998 (as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act 2012).

A pilot voluntary redeployment scheme operated at post primary level this year to assist in the redeployment of surplus permanent teachers in the Sligo area. This scheme was confined to schools in close proximity to the surplus schools in Sligo. This pilot scheme operated only for redeployment in 2013. My Department has no plans to introduce a separate voluntary redeployment scheme.