Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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1047. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her recent announcement that teachers will be given permanent contracts after one year favours newly qualified teachers over highly experienced Irish teachers who have returned from teaching abroad and are fighting to obtain CID; if her Department will recognise Irish teachers for their work in international schools outside the EU and put in place an efficient system in order to do so for both primary and secondary teachers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20939/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Recruitment and appointment of teachers is a matter for the school, as the employer, in line with the criteria set out in the relevant appointment circulars.

Teachers taking up their first contract in a viable teaching post in September 2025, will become eligible for a permanent contract in September 2026. This eligibility is contingent upon successful re-appointment following a competitive recruitment process and a viable post in the school.

Existing CID (Contract of indefinite duration) Primary Circular 0023/2015 and Post-Primary Circular 0024/2015 sets out the current eligibility criteria for CID appointment. Teachers not covered by this new policy, such as those in substitute roles or those whose posts are not deemed viable after one year, will continue to follow the existing route to permanency, which typically involves achieving a CID after a third contract.

Detailed guidelines and implementation procedures for this new policy will be developed with the support of education stakeholders, including teacher unions and management body representatives.

With regard to incremental credit, the criteria for the award of incremental credit are set out in the Department of Education’s Circulars 10/2001 for primary teachers, and 29/2007 and 29/2010 for post-primary teachers. The criteria for the award of incremental credit to recognised teachers was agreed under the auspices of the Teachers Conciliation Council (TCC).

Where a school satisfies the criteria set out in the circulars to have service at that school recognised for incremental credit, an award of incremental credit can be made. Where schools do not satisfy the required criteria, then service at that school cannot be considered towards incremental credit. Teachers must be on the Department of Education’s teacher payroll or teaching in an Education and Training Board school before an application can be processed.

The criteria for the award of incremental credit for teachers are subject to review by way of an incremental credit committee, which is a sub-committee of the TCC, and which meets on an ongoing basis. The department is planning to review the incremental credit circulars towards the end of this year. As part of this process, the department will consult with the education partners via the incremental credit sub-committee of the TCC.

Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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1048. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to review the case of pension entitlements for a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20941/25]

Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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1062. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to urgently address the disparity faced by school secretaries and caretakers, who are directly paid by the Department but who are being denied a pension (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21177/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1048 and 1062 together.

My department recognises the vitally important role of Secretaries within the school community. However, entitlement to specific employment terms and conditions is determined by a number of factors, including the nature of the role to be undertaken by the individual, the statutory basis on which various terms and conditions are applied, sector-specific agreements which have been reached through established Industrial Relations mechanisms and whether the employee is directly employed by a public or civil service body, or otherwise.

The Department of Education is not the direct employer of former grant funded school secretaries, but rather has been providing a payroll service for this cohort of secretaries with effect from 1st September 2023. The provision of this payroll service is part of a package agreed with Fórsa, the trade union representing school secretaries, following a series of engagements at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in 2022. The agreement provided for secretaries, who signed up for the package, to be moved to a pay scale aligned with that of Grade III/CO and for some enhanced terms and conditions including improved leave entitlements and maternity provisions. This was implemented under Circular 0036/2022. The agreement however did not grant public servant status to school secretaries and therefore this cohort do not have access to the Single Public Service Pension Scheme. The Department is committed to ensuring that school caretakers will be afforded the opportunity to avail of a similar package offered to school secretaries in the near future.

The school remains the employer of school secretaries and it is their obligation to provide access to a PRSA scheme for employees. For secretaries who are paid through the Department-administered payroll, a facility is now being offered to join a PRSA scheme administered by Cornmarket with contributions being deducted at source. Secretaries who wish to avail of this option can contact Cornmarket directly – the participation of individuals in any scheme is a matter between the individual and the service provider.

Any changes to the terms and conditions agreed for these secretaries under Circular 0036/2022 can occur only under industrial relations processes and any such proposals would need to be considered in detail by this Department and the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, as the granting or otherwise of public servant status is not within the scope of this Department.

Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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1049. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills regarding her recent announcement about offering teachers permanent contracts earlier in their career, whether she will clarify if she is proposing to reduce the current requirement of two years of continuous service down to one year for contract of indefinite duration eligibility; when these changes will come into effect; and if they will apply to those carrying out maternity cover or are these changes focused solely on fixed-term contracts that are not substitution-based. [20942/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Teachers taking up their first contract in a viable teaching post in September 2025, will become eligible for a permanent contract in September 2026. This eligibility is contingent upon successful re-appointment following a competitive recruitment process.

Existing CID (Contract of indefinite duration) Primary Circular 0023/2015 and Post-Primary Circular 0024/2015 sets out the current eligibility criteria for CID appointment.

Teachers not covered by this new policy, such as those in substitute roles or those whose posts are not deemed viable after one year, will continue to follow the existing route to permanency, which typically involves achieving a CID after a third contract.

Detailed guidelines and implementation procedures for this new policy will be developed with the support of education stakeholders, including teacher unions and management body representatives.