Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Ensuring that every child's experience in school is positive and that they have qualified, engaged teachers available to support them in their learning is a priority area of action for the Government.

Budget 2024 contains a range of measures that demonstrate my commitment to continued investment in our education system. In addition to numerous actions I have taken in recent years to address teacher supply, a number of specific, targeted measures will be introduced with the new funding provided including:

• A professional masters’ of education (PME) incentive scheme will be introduced for newly qualified teachers graduating in 2024. Those newly qualified teachers who graduate with a PME will, subject to some conditions, be eligible for an incentive payment of up to €2,000.
• Additionally, there will be an expansion in the number of upskilling programmes available, with programmes in Irish, French, politics & society, and computer science that will be in addition to existing upskilling programmes in maths, physics and Spanish.
• An additional 1,000 posts of responsibility will be provided in the school system for the 2024/25 school year.

These new measures are in addition to a range of targeted measures that I have introduced in recent times, including:

• Approving 610 additional places on initial teacher education primary level programmes for 2023/24 and 2024/25.
• Meeting with the primary teacher initial education providers on continuing existing flexibilities that enable student teachers to support schools, while either on placement or in a substitute capacity. In 2023, more than 2,700 student teachers registered with the Teaching Council and provided valuable support to schools as substitute teachers. This number is expected to be exceeded in the current school year.
• Continuing the operation of primary substitute teacher supply panels in 2023/24, with 590 teaching posts allocated to 166 panels covering nearly 2,900 schools. This scheme provides substitute cover for teachers employed in primary schools who are absent on short-term leave.
• Encouraging retired teachers to provide substitute cover; a communications campaign ran in early 2023, which has resulted in an increase in the number of teaching days provided by retired teachers of 49%, (over 17,000 days) between the 2021/22 and 2022/23 school years.
• Removing restrictions preventing job-sharing teachers or teachers on career breaks from working as substitutes have been suspended.
• Ensuring that post-primary teachers can provide up to 35 additional hours of substitute cover per term in the subject they are qualified to teach.

The teacher allocation ratio in primary schools is now at the lowest ever seen at primary level. The average student-per-teacher ratio in primary schools reduced by 10% between 2017 and 2023.

While schools in certain locations are experiencing challenges in both recruiting teachers and obtaining substitute teachers, the vast majority of sanctioned teacher positions are filled. The rate of resignation and retirement is very low by any standard, and is consistent with previous years.

The Teaching Council is the professional standards body for the teaching profession, which promotes and regulates professional standards in teaching. In its role as a competent authority, the Teaching Council operates in accordance with the EU Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive.

All applications from fully qualified teachers who qualify outside of the Republic of Ireland are assessed for comparability with graduates of Teaching Council-accredited programmes of initial teacher education. Following an assessment of teaching qualifications and relevant teaching experience, any identified qualification shortfall(s) are added as a condition of registration.

A review of the Teaching Council's Qualification Assessment Process for overseas teachers is being undertaken. A number of positive steps to simplify the process for overseas teachers to register have been introduced including:

• the redesign of their website with a dedicated Qualified Outside of Ireland page,
• enhanced follow-up for incomplete applications,
• removal of requirements for certain documents, and
• expedited approval mechanisms.

These measures are expected to improve the application experience for those teachers who have received their qualifications abroad.