Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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110. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way that she intends to address the recruitment issues in schools, particularly in the cities and the commuter belt around Dublin; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57935/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware that some schools are currently experiencing challenges recruiting teachers.

Newly qualified teachers (NQTs) represent an additional source of supply for substitute and full-time posts in 2022/23 with over 3,600 primary and post-primary NQTs registered with the Teaching Council this year.

My Department runs a comprehensive programme of work to support the supply of teachers.

HEIs have developed new 4-year ITE undergraduate programmes in a number of post-primary priority subject areas, including Irish, mathematics, computer science and modern foreign languages.

In addition my Department funds upskilling programmes for post primary teachers in mathematics, physics, and Spanish. Approximately 170 teachers are expected to graduate from these programmes this year and over 300 teachers in 2023.

My Department also has a scheme to allow post-primary schools to share teachers, the aim of which is to recruit teachers in high demand subjects and give teachers a full time teaching contract. I would strongly urge schools to explore this option as a way of meeting teacher demand.

In May 2021, my Department published an updated technical report “Developing a Teacher Demand and Supply Model for Ireland 2020-2038”, which includes projections of teacher supply and demand at a general level to 2038.

The report projects a decrease in demand for primary teachers to 2036 while at post-primary level the downward trend in demand starts from 2024. The report’s projections are based on high level demographics.

Work is ongoing to produce projections of post-primary teacher demand and supply on a subject level basis. It is intended to publish a draft report, for consultation with the education stakeholders, in the coming weeks.

The Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN) has developed a portal for the recruitment of teachers to long-term teaching positions which I understand will be available in the coming weeks. IPPN also operates Sub Seeker, a service matching primary and post-primary teachers with substitute vacancies. Almost 12,000 teachers have registered with Sub Seeker to date.

Significant additional posts have been allocated to the primary substitute teacher supply panels in areas where significant challenges in sourcing substitution continue, bringing the total to 610 posts on 151 panels, covering more than 2,840 schools, including in all major urban centres.

On a temporary basis for the 2022/23 school year, job sharing teachers may be employed to work in a substitute capacity and the limit on substitute work applying to teachers on career break has been suspended.

3rd and 4th year student teachers can now register with the Teaching Council and more than 2,100 student teachers have applied for registration. Once registered, student teachers can be employed by a school to cover substitutable vacancies.

At post-primary level my Department has recently put in place a scheme that allows teachers teach additional hours in their subject area over the usual 22-hour weekly limit, up to a maximum of 20 additional hours per term.

Furthermore, retired teachers who maintain their registration, can provide substitute cover and my Department has agreed a waiver of abatement with DPER for such teachers for up to 50 days in each of the three calendar years, 2021 to 2023 inclusive.

These measures are underpinned by the Teaching Transforms campaign, which promotes the teaching profession and encourages students to follow a career in teaching. The campaign is supported by a dedicated webpage on Gov.ie entitled teachingtransforms.

The Department of Education will continue, with the cooperation and input of the education partners, to develop and implement measures to address challenges faced by schools and to continue to support the supply of teachers.