Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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278. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if provision will be made for those teachers who are registered under regulation 3 to gain panel access; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21093/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The supplementary panel application process for eligible fixed-term (temporary/substitute) and part-time teachers for the 2016/17 school year is set out in Circular 0058/2015 which is available on my Department's website.

Since 2006, the Teaching Council is the body with statutory responsibility and authority for regulation of the teaching profession, including the registration of teachers under the Teaching Council Acts 2001-2015.

Under the Teaching Council [Registration] Regulations 2009, Regulation 3 (Montessori and other categories), graduates with certain Montessori qualifications (Level 8 on the National Framework of Qualifications) are allowed to be registered as teachers to teach in certain restricted settings in recognised schools.

Lengthening and reconfiguring the programmes of initial teacher education is a key component of the National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among Children and Young People 2011-2020. These changes were incorporated into the Teaching Council's Policy Paper on the Continuum of Teacher Education, which set the criteria for providers of initial teacher education.

The position is that, since the end of the 2012/13 school year, the Supplementary Special National Panel is being phased out and no new applications are being accepted. This decision by my Department reflects the wider availability of primary teachers who are qualified to work in all settings, which was not the case when this panel was originally set up.

Since 2012, the Teaching Council has responsibility for determining policy, procedures and criteria for the induction and probation of newly qualified teachers. Droichead which is the enhanced model of induction for Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) developed by the Council is being phased in at present and will be the only recognised route of induction for all new teachers from September 2018. In the meantime, NQTs in mainstream settings may complete probation through external evaluation conducted by my Department's inspectors. However, completion of the induction/probation process in special education settings can only be achieved through the Droichead process.

Arrangements for the Supplementary Panel will be reviewed with the relevant education stakeholders later this year to determine what adjustment, if any, is required for the 2017/18 school year.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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280. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a person with supplementary panel rights in 2017 can be considered for vacancies in the 2016 to 2017 school year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21110/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The core function of the redeployment arrangements is to facilitate the redeployment of all surplus permanent teachers to other schools that have vacancies. 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.

The arrangements for panel access for fixed term (temporary/substitute) and part-time teachers for the 2016/17 school year are set out in Department Circular 0058/2015 which was published on 16 November 2015 on the Department website. The deadline for submission of applications to the Supplementary Panel 2016/17 to my Department was 11th December 2015.

Arrangements for the Supplementary Panel for the 2017/18 school year will be published on the Department website in the Autumn.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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281. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the income threshold for the supplementary teaching panel will be brought in line with the school academic year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21114/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The core function of the redeployment arrangements is to facilitate the redeployment of all surplus permanent teachers to other schools that have vacancies.

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.

The supplementary panel application process for eligible fixed-term (temporary/substitute) and part-time teachers for the 2016/17 school year is set out in Circular 0058/2015.

Arrangements for the Supplementary Panel will be reviewed with the relevant education stakeholders later this year to determine what adjustment, if any, is required for the 2017/18 school year.