Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

157. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will address a matter (details supplied) regarding contracts of indefinite duration for temporary teachers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21166/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Circular Letter 0023/2015 which was issued by my Department in March 2015 sets out the detailed arrangements and procedures for the implementation and procedures for the implementation of the recommendations of the Expert Group on Fixed-Term and Part-Time Employment in Primary and Second Level Education in Ireland. One of the key features of the new procedures is that the qualification period for the granting of an initial Contract of Indefinite Duration (CID) is reduced from a period of continuous employment in excess of three years with the same employer to a period of continuous employment in excess of two years. It remains the case that the post must continue to be viable for a reasonable period considered to be at least a full school year.

Previously a post which concerned providing cover for a teacher absent on an approved scheme of leave of absence did not provide eligibility for a CID. In line with the recommendations of the Expert Group eligibility for a CID is extended to include providing cover for a teacher absent on two specific schemes of absence but this is confined to covering the absence of a teacher on career break or secondment.

Also in line with the recommendations of the Expert Group once a teacher has completed his or her first year of fixed-term employment in a school and the hours are available for that post for the following year, that position should be automatically re-advertised by the school and a new recruitment process undertaken for the filling of the post for the second year. From the commencement of the 2015/16 school year, there is now a requirement that schools must certify to the Department that when a teacher is being placed on the payroll for a second year of continuous employment the post was advertised, interviews were conducted and that the teacher was successful following interview. As an interim measure for the 2015/16 school year any teacher who has entered their third or more year of continuous employment may be considered for the award of a CID providing they satisfy the terms and conditions of circular 0023/2015 without the requirement of an interview at the end of their first fixed-term contract.