Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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282. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of primary and secondary school teachers recruited in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9785/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Teacher allocations to all schools are approved annually by my Department in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment. The criteria for the allocation of posts are communicated to school managements annually and are available on the Department website.

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). The deployment of teaching staff in the school, the range of subjects offered and ultimately the quality of teaching and learning are in the first instance a matter for the school management authorities.

The Statistics Section of my Department's website contains extensive data relating to schools at primary and post-primary level, including teaching posts. The most recent published information relates to the 2014/15 school year.

The overall number of wholetime equivalent teaching posts at primary level has increased by 6%, a total of 1,904 teaching posts from the 2009/10 school year to the 2014/15 school year. The increase at post-primary level for the corresponding period is 1.5%, a total of 371 teaching posts.

Data in relation to the 2015/16 school year will be published later in the Summer.

The Deputy will be aware that there is a provision in Budget 2016 for some 2,260 additional teaching posts for our primary and post primary schools for the 2016/17 school year. These posts will provide for an improvement in the staffing schedules at primary and post primary levels, enhance the leadership and management roles of deputy principals at post-primary level by reducing their teaching time, an improvement to the scheme of release time for principal teachers at primary level and additional resource posts to meet special education needs.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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283. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of a teacher (details supplied) with a job sharing contract; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9814/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Haddington Road agreement provided for the establishment of an Expert Group on Fixed-Term and Part-Time Employment in Primary and Second Level Education in Ireland. This group was chaired by Mr. Peter Ward SC, who consulted extensively with all the stakeholders and interested parties. The report was published in September 2014 and can be found on my Department's website at the following link – -for-Education-and-Skills-of-the-Chairperson-of-the-Expert-Group-on-Fixed-Term-and-Part-Time-Employment-in-Primary-and-Second-Level-Education-in-Ireland.pdf.

The report recommended a suite of measures which will lead to more job security for fixed-term and part-time teachers. It recommended seven changes for implementation from the commencement of the 2015/16 school which my Department implemented. Circulars 23/2015 and 24/2015 detailing the arrangements and procedures for the implementation of the recommendations of the report were published on March 27th 2015 and are available on my Department's website at the following link - Terms-and-Conditions/Fixed-Term-Contracts.html.

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.

In their deliberations the expert group considered the issue of the exclusion from qualification for a CID of a teacher who is covering for another teacher absent on an approved scheme of leave of absence. The report recommended that a teacher covering for another teacher on career break or secondment should not be disqualified from entitlement to a CID on that ground. However the group having considered the issue of teachers covering for teachers who are job-sharing concluded that these teachers should not be included in this arrangement.

Individual teachers who wish to appeal the decision not to award them a CID or the terms of the CID awarded to them may submit an appeal to the independent Fixed-Term Adjudicator. The adjudication process is outlined in Circular 0050/2006 and is available on my Department's website at the following link – .