Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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263. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the measures she will take to address the ongoing issue of teacher shortages, particularly in key subjects such as Irish, mathematics, and modern languages; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14921/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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This Government is fully committed to ensuring that every child has a positive school experience, with access to qualified and engaged teachers who are dedicated to supporting their learning.

A number of measures to support schools to recruit teachers registered to teach Irish mathematics, and modern languages have been implemented including:

• Budget 2024 included the expansion of upskilling programmes in post-primary, 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 commence in 2025 and complement existing programmes in maths, physics, and Spanish. Trinity College Dublin will deliver the new Irish upskilling programme for post-primary.
• Budget 2025 announced 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 €2,000 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 year’s post-qualification teaching service in a recognised post primary school.
• Budget 2024 also 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 teachers including post-primary teachers to take up teaching roles. A circular issued in September from my department setting out the eligibility criteria and a portal opened for applications at the end of January this year.

• 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
• Between 2018 and 2024 there has been a significant increase of 6,006 (17.42%) post-primary allocated teaching posts.
• In addition, a project, being undertaken by UNESCO, supported by the EU Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support, began in October, focusing on strategic workforce planning for teachers in Ireland. UNESCO will engage with stakeholders over the two years of the project to develop recommendations for a strategic workforce plan for teachers.
• 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.

• Funding is provided for an Irish-medium B.Ed. for primary teachers, which is delivered by Marino Institute of Education. Two cohorts – 68 students in total – have graduated from this programme since its establishment in 2019, and 165 students are currently enrolled on the programme.
• Funding is also provided for an M.Ed. in Irish-medium and Gaeltacht Education for practicing teachers and school leaders and this programme is currently being delivered by Trinity College Dublin. 48 students are enrolled on this programme for the 2024-2025 academic year.
• Two seconded teachers and COGG bursaries have also been provided to support the Máistir Gairmiúil san Oideachas (Irish-medium PME for post-primary teachers) in the University of Galway since 2017. 55 students are enrolled on this programme for the 2024-2025 academic year.

• With 3,700 newly qualified teachers registered with the Teaching Council in 2024 and over 126,000 now on the register.
• Analysis of CAO applications spanning from 2017 to 2024 indicates a sustained and robust demand for undergraduate teaching programmes. On average, 6% of first preference applications during the period from 2017 to 2024 were for either primary or post-primary teaching programmes. First preference data from the CAO published recently showed increases in primary first preferences of 9% and in post-primary of 5%.
• The new pay deal will mean that teachers’ starting salary will increase to €46,000 rising to a maximum of €85,000 per year which compares well internationally.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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264. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the means by which she will support the well-being of teachers and reduce burnout, particularly in light of increasing workloads and administrative demands; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14922/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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To assist schools in terms of Wellbeing supports, my Department has put in place an Occupational Health Strategy as a supportive resource for staff and leaders in schools. The aim of the Occupational Health Strategy is to promote the health and wellbeing of employees in the workplace, with a strong focus on prevention. The Occupational Health Strategy comprises the Employee Assistance Service and the Occupational Health Service. The Employee Assistance Service is provided by Spectrum.life and is a self-referral service where school staff have access to a dedicated free-phone confidential helpline. The service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The helpline number is 1800-411057.

The Employee Assistance Service provides advice to all school staff on a range of issues including wellbeing, bereavement, conflict and mediation. Where appropriate, short-term counselling is available to all school staff and their family members. The service provides support and advice to managers to help them deal with health and wellbeing issues personally and in the workplace. It also provides a series of webinars and presentations to promote wellbeing in schools. To enhance the supports that are available, Spectrum Life has developed a comprehensive package of supports specifically aimed at school leaders which is currently being rolled out.

A Wellbeing in Education platform bringing together resources for school staff, students and parents to support wellbeing and resilience has been included on gov.ie (). This platform provides links to an extensive range of resources available to schools from the Department’s support services and agencies and the HSE and the Department of Health.

The Department introduced a new leadership framework in 2018 which allows for flexibility in identifying and prioritising the evolving leadership and management needs of schools. This shared or distributive leadership model supports school leaders in the overall management and operation of schools. It provides for the assignment and re-assignment of post holders to specific roles and responsibilities to meet a school’s evolving needs. Today, 1 in 3 primary school teachers hold management positions. In budget 2024, this Department provided for an additional 1,000 posts of responsibility (Assistant Principal II) for the 2024/25 school year. In budget 2025, the Department provided for a further 1,000 posts of responsibility (Assistant Principal II) for the 2025/2026 school year.

My Department is currently looking toward Education 2050 and how we take the best elements of our schools and build on this to create a system for future generations. The small schools project is an example of school communities coming together to explore and trail new ideas for the future including how admin supports can assist teaching principals with their administrative duties. It is acknowledged by my department that implementing policies while teaching can be challenging.

The project has brought small schools together in local clusters, enabling them to collaborate and identify common challenges and trial innovative solutions. New ideas are being trialled to determine whether these might help to make the role of a teaching principal and small schools more sustainable. The project has shown that small schools collaborating and working together offers promise for the future.

The schools participating across the six clusters in this project have developed good working relationships and have already provided valuable insights and ideas into supports that can be developed and replicated across small schools and I am delighted that the project is continuing for a further two years to allow further time for current ideas to be developed and some new ideas to emerge.

Effective school leadership, and governance, means effective schools. The existing models of leadership and governance of our schools, whilst very effective, also carry challenges for teachers, school principals, as well as boards of management, and the sector as a whole. Recognising these challenges, my department is now putting an increased focus on leadership and governance at school level and across the sector nationally. My officials, in conjunction and consultation with education partners will examine current policy and practice to see what elements are serving school communities well and what elements we can improve on.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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265. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the plans she has to improve pay and conditions for newly qualified teachers so as to make the profession more attractive; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14923/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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This Government is fully committed to ensuring that every child has a positive school experience, with access to qualified and engaged teachers who are dedicated to supporting their learning. This remains a top priority.

As with other sectors, while the vast majority of allocated teaching posts are filled, recruitment challenges exist in some schools. To address teacher supply issues, my 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
• Between 2018 and 2024 there has been a significant increase of 5,621 (13.08%) primary, and 6,006 (17.42%) post-primary allocated teaching posts.

• With 3,700 newly qualified teachers registered with the Teaching Council in 2024 and over 126,000 now on the register.
• Analysis of CAO applications spanning from 2017 to 2024 indicates a sustained and robust demand with on average, 6% of first preference applications either for primary or post-primary teaching programmes. First preference data from the CAO published recently showed increases in primary first preferences of 9% and in post-primary of 5%.
• The new pay deal will mean that teachers’ starting salary will increase to €46,000 rising to a maximum of €85,000 per year which compares well internationally.