Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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282. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will direct her Department to recognise teaching experience (details supplied) for the purposes of incremental credit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33289/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The criteria for the award of incremental credit are set out in the Department of Education and Youth’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).

The teacher you refer to is employed in an Education and Training Board (ETB) school and therefore their application was assessed by that ETB.

The School Completion Programme (SCP) is a targeted programme of support for primary and post-primary students who are at risk of early school leaving. SCP provides various supports to improve students’ attendance, participation and retention in school.

Prior service given in a School Completion Programme is generally assessed under the relevant non-teaching category of circular 29/2007. The teacher you refer to has already received the maximum award of five years incremental credit for relevant non-teaching service as a Project Worker between 2010 and 2017 with Smile School Completion Programme.

The applications referred to relate to prior service between 2002 and 2010. These two applications were assessed by Limerick and Clare ETB. The Department of Education and Youth was not involved in the assessment of this teachers prior service between 2002 and 2010.