Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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83. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the total spending by her Department on in-service training of teachers and on leadership development programmes; and if she will set out her ambitions in this arena. [58419/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The quality of our teaching profession is a critical factor in sustaining and enhancing the quality of education outcomes. The Department of Education promotes the quality of teaching and learning through the provision of continuing professional development and supports for teachers and principals. The Department ensures that a range of high-quality models of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is provided to teachers and school leaders through its support services, Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST), Junior Cycle for Teachers (JCT), National Induction Programme for Teachers (NIPT) and Centre for School Leadership (CSL) and the national network of Education Centres. The Department also funds appropriate groups, bodies and institutions who are empowered to design, develop and deliver CPD programmes to support curriculum change, educational policies and strategies, school leadership and inclusive teaching, and also to ensure that valuable teacher student contact time is protected.

The total funding provided by my Department in 2021 for CPD provided by the Teacher Education Support Services and local Education Centres was in the region of €50 million. Funding includes provision for some 340 teachers seconded to these Support Services and local Education Centres to provide high quality CPD and also funding for substitute teacher cover in schools where required for certain CPD.

Providing inclusive education to children with special educational needs is a fundamental principle of the education and training system. This principle is put into practice through the policies of the Department and the Teaching Council, curriculum provision and the range of supports provided to schools, for example through the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and the PDST.

The CPD spend figure includes expenditure on a range of leadership support programmes provided by PDST for newly appointed principals, deputy principals and middle leaders. My Department also funds CSL, established in 2015, which presents a unique opportunity for the development of a coherent continuum of professional development for school leaders. The CSL supports leaders across the continuum of their leadership journey and provides, for example, a post graduate programme for aspiring leaders, mentoring for newly appointed leaders, coaching for established leaders and cluster support for school leadership teams. My Department also supports the provision of professional learning through both the Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN) and the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD).

In 2021, the Department of Education commenced a project to integrate the four Teacher Education funded Support Services, PDST, JCT, CSL & NIPT into one single Integrated Support Service. The development of a single Integrated Teacher Support Service is in line with the Department’s policy of promoting quality teaching and learning through the provision of CPD and to support teachers and school leaders.

This new service will aim to provide a more efficient, effective and responsive model of CPD provision. A single Integrated Teacher Education Support Service will provide a ‘one stop shop’ where teachers and school leaders can access supports and resources. It will also be ready to provide CPD to teachers for any curricular changes or reforms that arise in the future. The new integrated service will launch in September 2023.

Cosán is the national framework for teachers’ learning which was published by the Teaching Council in 2016. Cosán means pathway and this name was chosen to reflect the fact that teachers’ learning is a journey. Central to Cosán is a vision of teachers as professionals who are intrinsically motivated to take ownership of their professional learning and development.

Droichead is the Teaching Council’s integrated professional induction framework for newly qualified teachers which has been implemented on a phased basis since 2016. Since September 2020, Droichead is the only route of induction for all teachers.

Cosán and Droichead mark the continuation of a learning journey that teachers undertake from Initial Teacher Education, through Induction via the Droichead framework and on to Cosán and the professional learning that should continue across the duration of a teacher’s career. The teacher and principal learning opportunities provided by my Department support the profession to retain and develop their expertise, whilst ensuring that children and young people have access to a highly professional workforce.