Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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259. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 474 of 7 November 2023, if she will provide details of the workings of the existing voluntary redeployment pilot scheme mentioned in the response; if there have been positive results from this scheme to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51024/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The recruitment and appointment of teachers to fill teaching posts is a matter for each individual school authority as the employer. The deployment of teaching staff in the school, the range of subjects offered and ultimately the quality of teaching and learning are in the first instance a matter for the school management authorities.

Post primary schools employ teachers with the appropriate subject mix to provide for a range of subjects that can be offered to students. It is an important aspect of the annual timetabling process that schools work towards achieving this outcome where possible. Matching the subject mix on offer with the qualifications of individual teachers who typically have more than one subject, can be a challenging task for schools. It is important that schools as employers retain the flexibility to employ teachers with the capacity to teach varied subjects to maintain a wide range of subjects on offer to students.

The core function of the redeployment arrangements is to facilitate the redeployment of surplus permanent teachers to other schools where vacancies exist.  At Post-Primary level, following discussions between the relevant stakeholders a voluntary redeployment scheme has operated on a pilot basis in specific regions in recent years.  Permanent teachers employed in these regions are given an opportunity to volunteer for a transfer to other areas of the country only if such a transfer would free up a vacancy that would facilitate the redeployment of a surplus permanent teacher in the region.  

The key purpose of the pilot voluntary redeployment scheme is to assist the Department to achieve its objective of redeploying all surplus permanent teachers. To-date the pilot voluntary redeployment scheme has operated in 24 counties and statistics in relation to this scheme are attached.

The redeployment process is reviewed annually by my Department and Education Stakeholders, including Teacher Unions. The criteria for the allocation of teachers to schools including the redeployment arrangements for the 2024/25 school year will be available on the Department's website in late January/early February 2024.  

Teachers who apply under the pilot voluntary scheme and are not facilitated with a transfer continue to have the option of applying for posts in their preferred location that are advertised in the normal manner.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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260. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her Department's position with regard to the proposal by an organisation (details supplied) regarding teacher redeployment; and when a formal response will issue. [51025/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The recruitment and appointment of teachers to fill teaching posts is a matter for individual school authorities, subject to procedures agreed under Section 24 of the Education Act 1998 (as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act 2012). In that regard, there are more than 3,700 individual employers (boards of management of primary schools and post-primary schools, as well as ETBs).

Earlier this year the Department received a report of a TUI working group. The report proposed the creation of a national relocation scheme whereby teachers would identify the locations that they would like to relocate to through a portal and then effectively “swap” with teachers in that location.

Department officials subsequently met with TUI representatives to discuss the matter and the proposal is being given consideration with a view to a formal response issuing shortly.

It should be noted that an existing voluntary redeployment pilot operates that is distinct from the relocation scheme proposed by the TUI. The key purpose of the pilot voluntary redeployment scheme is to assist the Department to achieve its objective of redeploying all surplus permanent teachers.

The Department meets regularly with the teacher unions on many issues relating to teachers. The Department will continue to work intensively with all stakeholders to develop and implement creative solutions to address the needs of teachers and teacher supply challenges facing schools.