Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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52. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the extent to which she continues to ensure the availability of an adequate number of teaching staff in all primary, second level and special needs schools throughout Kildare North, given then burgeoning demand; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44975/24]

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.

The recruitment and appointment of teachers for teaching positions is managed by individual school authorities. There are over 3,700 individual school authorities, responsible for this process, including boards of management at primary and post-primary schools, as well as Education and Training Boards (ETBs).

While most teaching positions are filled, some schools face significant recruitment challenges. To address teacher supply issues, the Department, with stakeholder support, has implemented several actions.

As of March 2024, a record 78,646 teachers are employed. There are less than 1% resignations in the Primary sector every year and 1.6% in Post Primary. The number of teachers who retired over the past number of years has varied, with 932 in 2013 and 1,074 in 2023.

While most teaching positions are filled, some schools face significant recruitment challenges. To address teacher supply issues, the Department has implemented several measures that have led to:

• an increase of 20% in Initial Teacher Education graduates (student teachers) between 2018 and 2023, and a 30% increase in the number registered with the Teaching Council since 2017, and
• a 16.7% increase in the number of teaching posts allocated to post-primary, and an increase of 13.3% allocated to primary between 2017/18 and 2023/24.

• Budget 2025 included a bursary for student teachers to increase the number of qualified STEM (including science, maths, chemistry, physics, engineering) teachers in post-primary schools. The bursary, a €2k payment each year for the final two years of their undergraduate initial teacher education programme, is contingent on a commitment to complete a minimum 2 years post-qualification teaching service in a recognised post primary school.
• Budget 2024 also included the expansion of upskilling programmes, free to teachers, aimed at increasing the number of qualified teachers in high-demand subjects and reducing out-of-field teaching. New programmes in Irish, French, politics & society, and computer science will complement existing programmes in maths, physics, and Spanish. Trinity College Dublin will deliver the new Irish upskilling programme for post-primary.
• Budget 2025 continued funding for free upskilling courses for teachers in high-demand subject areas (Irish, French, Spanish, maths, computer science, physics, politics & society).
• Budget 2024 introduced a €2,000 bursary-style fee refund for teachers graduating with a Professional Master of Education (PME) in 2024. This payment, to be made in 2025, aims to encourage newly qualified primary and post-primary teachers to take up teaching roles. A circular issued in September from my department setting out the eligibility criteria.

• newly qualified teachers (NQTs) employed in primary schools can complete the Droichead process while employed on a Supply Panel or Principal Release Time Post. For the 2024/25 school year, 591 substitute teacher supply posts have been allocated to 167 panels, covering 2,900 schools.
• over 3,700 student teachers were registered under Route 5 with the Teaching Council to substitute in June 2024, up from 2,700 that were registered in the previous school year. Continuing these flexibilities allows student teachers to support schools during their placements or as substitutes.
• increasing the pool of teachers available to undertake substitute work, through the continued suspension of the usual limits on career break and job-sharing schemes and the continuation of the teaching hours’ extension scheme in post-primary schools to 2024/25 school year,
• encouraging retired teachers to work as substitute teachers; in the 2023/24 school year, over 1,700 retired teachers provided substitute cover, an increase of 12% on the previous year, and
• the Teaching Transforms campaign continues to promote the teaching profession and encourage students to follow a career in teaching. Promotion campaigns have been developed to coincide with the CAO closing date and change of mind deadline in recent years.

The Department frequently consults stakeholders on issues such as teacher supply through industrial relations forums, sectoral meetings, and direct discussions with teacher unions. Additionally, a project, supported by UNESCO and the EU Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support, began recently, focusing on strategic workforce planning for teachers in Ireland.