Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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118. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he has had negotiations with the leadership of the INTO regarding the directive to refuse to participate with the Droichead programme and the impact this has for newly qualified teachers in the area of special needs; the date the discussions took place; his plans to have further discussions regarding the concerns of INTO on this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5008/17]

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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120. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the INTO has communicated its concerns to his Department in respect of the Droichead programme; the steps he has taken to address these concerns; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5010/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 118 and 120 together.

The Teaching Council is the statutory body with responsibility for professional standards at all stages of the teaching career. It has established standards for post-qualification professional practice, as set out in Droichead, the new model of induction and probation for newly qualified primary and post-primary teachers. The Droichead programme was the subject of a three-year pilot before it was approved by the Council in March 2016. The programme is being introduced on a phased basis since last September.

During the growth and development phase of Droichead, teachers employed in a special education or restricted setting must avail of the Droichead programme to achieve full registration with the Council.

The INTO issued a directive to its members not to co-operate with or participate in Droichead from 1 July 2016. This directive has prevented newly qualified teachers employed in special education settings from participating in Droichead since September and thereby closed off the registration pathway. I hope the INTO will review its approach.

Under the pay measures which the Department agreed in September 2016 with the INTO it was agreed there would be an immediate time-bound engagement involving relevant parties, to resolve issues with Droichead, including the current directive on non-cooperation. The INTO has since met with the Teaching Council and the Council undertook a review of Droichead Policy which resulted in a revised Policy being approved by the Council on 12 December 2016. The revised policy does not change the requirement for teachers in a special education setting to avail of Droichead.

I can confirm that the INTO have raised the issue of resources to support the implementation of the new policy. My Department is considering the impact of the new policy adopted by the Council.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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119. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether the current directive of the INTO with respect to the Droichead scheme will have an impact on the further recruitment of resource teachers in order to implement the new resource allocation model for children with special educational needs in September 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5009/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that on 18 January last, I announced that a new model for allocating Special Education Teaching Resources to mainstream primary and post primary schools will be introduced from September 2017.

I also announced that an additional 900 teaching posts will be provided to support the introduction of this new allocation model.

This substantial additional provision will ensure that:

- Up to 1,000 schools will receive additional allocations, where the new model indicates additional need.

- No school will receive an allocation of resources less than the allocation they received in the 2016/17 school year.

The provision of an additional 900 teaching posts is a very significant investment in the provision of additional teaching support for pupils with special educational needs in our schools.

It is intended that a new Circular will issue to schools in the coming weeks which will set out the full details of the scheme, including the qualification and registration requirements for new Special Education Teaching posts. It is not expected that the directive of the INTO with respect to the droichead scheme will have an impact on the recruitment of teachers to implement the new resource allocation model for September 2017.