Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

1276. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills how she is addressing teacher shortages in DEIS secondary schools in Ballymun and Finglas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44007/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

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.

As with other sectors, recruitment challenges exist in some schools including in Dublin. 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.
• The Teaching Council reported 94,928 teachers registered in the 2016/17 school year increasing to 122,743 teachers registered in 2023/24. Currently, the Teacher Council have reported that there are over 126,000 on the register representing a 33% increase in the number of teachers registered between 2017 and now.
• Recent data showed there were over 79,000 qualified teachers employed in Ireland with over 36,000 in post-primary schools.

Schools also have access to other universal supports such as wellbeing supports for students through the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), additional teaching hours under the English as an Additional Language (EAL) scheme and advisory support from the Department’s Inspectorate.

My Department invests over €180 million annually to provide additional supports to almost 1,200 schools in the DEIS programme which supports approximately 260,000 students.

A new DEIS Plan will be published in 2025. This plan will focus on improving the opportunities and achievement levels of children at risk of educational disadvantage, developing more innovative approaches to tackling educational disadvantage, and working towards a more flexible system of supports to ensure that a school can receive the right support at the right time.

Any future expansion of the programme, and overall allocation of resources to schools to tackle educational disadvantage, will be considered within the context of the DEIS plan and availability of resources.

I am committed to addressing teacher supply and recently announced new measures including to help teachers gain permanent roles more quickly. Additionally, the Teaching Council is to streamline the registration process for eligible teachers who qualified outside of Ireland, allowing them to apply for registration and complete their induction requirements within the country.

Measures introduced in recent budgets included:

• Budget 2025 introduced a €2,000 bursary to increase the number of qualified STEM teachers in post-primary schools payable in the final two years of their undergraduate programme, in exchange for a two-year teaching commitment.
• Budget 2024 introduced a PME fee refund scheme: a €2,000 bursary for teachers graduating with a Professional Master of Education (PME) in 2024,aimed at encouraging newly qualified teachers to take up roles in primary and post-primary schools, and
• An expansion of upskilling programmes under Budget 2024 and continued in 2025, offering free courses to teachers in high-demand subjects to reduce 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.

• A new project, supported by UNESCO and the EU Commission, will create a strategic plan for managing Ireland’s teaching workforce. The project aims to consider the sustainability of the teaching profession in Ireland, with a focus on the factors that impact teacher supply.This two-year project will involve consultations with key stakeholders to develop recommendations.
• Development of the Teaching Transforms campaign, which promotes the teaching profession and encourage students to follow a career in teaching. The campaigns use digital, radio and video media, and have been developed to coincide with the CAO closing date and change of mind deadline in recent years.

Teaching is an attractive career choice:

• With 1,856 newly qualified post-primary teachers registered with the Teaching Council in 2024 and over 126,000 in total now on the register.
• First preference data from the CAO published for February this year showed increases in first preferences in post-primary of 5%.
• Teacher’s pay has increased significantly in recent years with a new entrants’ current rate of €45,829 for post-primary teachers. The new public service pay agreement means further increases to €46,000, which represents an over 46% increase on the 2013 salary. The new pay deal will mean that teachers’ salary will increase to a maximum of €85,000 per year which compares well internationally.

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.