Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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978. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her attention has been drawn to the cascade aspect of teacher absences in the context of Covid-19 in which the substitute panel is saturated with requests, thereby seeing special needs teachers frequently being required to take over absentee teacher class duties; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18815/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Among the COVID-19 supports provided for the 2020/21 school year was the extension of the Substitute Teacher Supply Panel. Currently, there are 115 Substitute Teacher Supply Panels nationwide, with almost 330 newly appointed Supply Panel teachers employed, providing substitute cover to almost 2,300 schools across the country. The proficiencies of the Substitute Teacher Supply Panels is being monitored throughout the school year and will be reviewed by my Department at the end of the current academic year.

These substitute Supply Panels are not the sole means whereby schools source substitutes but are set up to work alongside the existing methods of sourcing substitute teachers whether through a school’s own panel of regular substitutes or the National Substitution portal service as outlined in the Department Circular 45/2020.

Where there is no substitute available from these options, Circular 45/2020 allows for non-mainstream teachers to cover the absence of a teacher in a mainstream class and the school may employ a substitute on a subsequent date when one is available.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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979. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of new primary teachers registered with the Teaching Council in each of the years since 2014; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18825/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Teaching Council Acts 2001-2015 the Teaching Council is the body with statutory authority and responsibility for the regulation of the teaching profession in Ireland including the registration of teachers in the State.

The figures they have provided for the number of registrations for Newly Qualified Teachers (Primary) since 2014 are as follows:

2014 = c. 1,700

2015 = 915

2016 = 2002

2017 = 1744

2018 =1789

2019 = 1792

2020 = 1914

The Teaching Council inform me there are a number of caveats to this data, namely:

- These numbers relate to Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) who registered with the Council using the fast-track NQT registration process. Primary Teachers who registered outside this process are not counted.

- The number for 2014 is an approximate figure only.

- The reduction in graduate numbers in 2015 is directly due to the commencement of the reconceptualised initial teacher education programmes.