Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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159. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will increase the number of places for primary teacher training; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25050/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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In November 2020, as Minister for Education, I approved the annual intake figure for the academic year 2021/22 on the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) initial teacher education programmes provided in the four State-funded HEI providers. I also approved the continuation of the Professional Masters of Education (PME) programmes and the intake figure for the PME programmes provided in the four State-funded HEI providers. The annual intake figures approved for the B.Ed and PME primary ITE programmes are 1,000 and 200 respectively for the coming academic year. These figures are in line with previous years.

Historically, the Department has endeavoured to manage the supply of trained primary teachers in an effort to achieve equilibrium between the supply of and the demand for trained teachers. In 2019, my Department published a technical report, Teacher Demand and Supply in Ireland 2020-2036, which projects teacher demand and supply to 2036. The report was published as a working document and was the subject of intensive consultation with stakeholders after its publication. Ultimately, the intention is to establish a robust data based model for the effective projection of future teacher demand and supply across the school system.