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.

As with other sectors, recruitment challenges exist in some schools. To address teacher supply issues, The Government 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.

Measures introduced in recent budgets, included a STEM bursary, a PME fee refund scheme and an expansion of upskilling programmes, which are in addition to workforce planning for teachers and SNAs, reflect the commitment to ongoing investment in the education system?to address teacher supply.

It is a legal requirement for a teacher to be registered with the Teaching Council to receive a salary paid by the State. To register, a teacher must have a recognised teaching qualification.???

Under Section 38 of the Teaching Council Act, all initial teacher education (ITE) programmes must be accredited by the Teaching Council for registration purposes. The Council reviewed its policy on standards for programmes of initial teacher education and published updated standards in Céim Standards for Initial Teacher Education in October 2020.

All 54 ITE programmes across 14 HEI (higher education institution) providers have completed the accreditation process under the new standards through the Teaching Council.?

The Department of Education sets the minimum entry requirements for Irish, English and Mathematics for entry to primary Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Programmes. This was signalled in the National Strategy on Literacy and Numeracy for Learning and Life (2011) and is to ensure that primary teachers have the capacity to lead learning in these particular subjects which are considered as core curricular areas and particularly important in terms of supporting the development of literacy and numeracy amongst students in schools.

Having relatively high minimum entry requirements in core subject areas of Irish, English and Mathematics is one of the key policy levers that help ensure quality teaching and learning in primary school.

Teaching is an attractive career choice:

• 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.

My Department frequently consults and engages closely with stakeholders on issues such as teacher supply through industrial relations forums, sectoral meetings, and direct discussions with teacher unions.

I am considering further measures to strengthen the teaching workforce and ensure that schools have the support needed to provide an excellent education for every student.