Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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115. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to ensure young qualified teachers get work in preference to retired teachers. [39431/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The policy of my Department is to ensure, as far as possible, that the Managerial Authorities of schools give priority to unemployed registered teachers who are fully qualified when filling vacant teaching posts. It is schools that employ teachers and not my Department. However my Department has issued a number of Circulars addressing this issue in recent years.

Under these Circulars School Principals must maintain a list of unemployed registered teachers who are available for substitute work at short notice and report to the Board of Management on any exceptional occasion where they have to engage a registered teacher who is retired. Circular 31/2011 details a cascade of measures for the recruitment of teachers, prioritising registered teachers over retired registered teachers and unregistered people.

A retired teacher who returns to teaching on or after 1 February 2012 will commence at the first point of the incremental salary scale (i.e. the lowest point or starting salary for teachers). Incremental credit for service prior to 1 February 2012, qualification allowances and certain job role allowances are also not payable. This measure represents a significant financial disincentive for teachers who retired at the top of their salary scale, often with a post of responsibility allowance, to return to teaching.

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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116. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of retired teachers at present filling in for maternity and sick leave in national and secondary schools. [39432/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Retired teachers are employed in a substitute capacity for casual / non casual absences in primary and post primary schools. Because of the casual nature of the employment figures are compiled for specific periods. In December 2012 there were 174 primary and 91 post primary retired teachers who had worked for some period of time in the 2012/13 school year and in December 2013, 113 primary and 82 post primary retired teachers had been employed in the 2013/2014 school year. Figures for 14/15 school year are not available at this time.

Circular 31/2011 issued in May of 2011 and set out a cascading set of measures for appointment of teachers with effect from September 2011. These required that schools prioritise unemployed teachers over those in receipt of a pension where possible. Only where a school cannot source an appropriately qualified and registered teacher may they move to the recruitment of a retired appropriately qualified teacher.

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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117. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of young qualified teachers on the panel. [39433/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The staffing and redeployment arrangements for the current school year are set out in Circular 0007/2014 which is available on the Department website.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, schools are required under the panel arrangements to fill permanent vacancies from supplementary panels comprised of eligible fixed-term (temporary/substitute) and part-time teachers.

Circa 500 permanent teachers placed on main redeployment panels were redeployed to schools with vacancies for the 2014/15 school year. The arrangements for access to the Supplementary Panel for the 2014/15 school year are set out in Circular 0057/2013, which is available on the Department website.

1,962 teachers were eligible for the 2014/15 Supplementary Panel. 1,566 of these teachers have acquired teaching positions for the 2014/15 school year and 396 teachers remain on the Supplementary Panel. The latest date for filling a permanent post on a permanent basis in the current school year is Monday 3 November, 2014. The Supplementary Panel will automatically cease at that stage.

It is open to any teacher on the supplementary panel to apply for vacancies that are advertised.