Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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182. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 61 of 24 September 2025, the estimated savings to the Exchequer given that these teaching posts were budgeted for with specific reference to schools in the DEIS scheme. [54252/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to ensuring every child has a positive school experience, supported by qualified and dedicated teachers. 

Like many sectors, recruitment challenges exist in the education sector. The number of teachers is at a record high, with over 79,000 currently employed. Teaching posts have grown by over 10,400 in the past five years, outpacing student growth.  

The recruitment and appointment of teachers for teaching positions is managed by individual school authorities. There are over 3,000 individual primary school authorities, responsible for this process, including boards of management, as well as Education and Training Boards (ETBs). 

The latest teacher payroll data, as of March 2025, shows there are 79,225 teachers employed in our schools across the country with 43,221 at primary level including special schools.  The number of unfilled posts remain low at 2.5% as of March 2025.  There are less than 1% resignations in the primary sector each year and 1.6% in post-primary. 

My response to Parliamentary Question No. 61 of 24 September 2025 provided that of the 3,854.5 allocated posts in DEIS schools, within County Dublin, 250.6 (6.5%) of these allocated posts unfilled. Were these posts to have been filled by primary teachers at the first point of the current salary scale the cost to the Exchequer would be €12.5m. This figure is calculated using the August 2025 payscale, and includes employer’s PRSI. 

At the end of each year, any unspent funds are returned to the Exchequer, as a “surplus to surrender” and shown in the Departments Appropriation Accounts. These accounts are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) and published on the official government website, gov.ie. 

My Department invests over €180 million annually in the DEIS programme, supporting nearly 1,200 schools and 260,000 students. A new DEIS Plan will be published in 2025, focusing on improving outcomes for children at risk of educational disadvantage, promoting innovation, and enabling a more flexible allocation of supports. Future expansion and resource allocation will be guided by this plan and available funding. 

Additionally, Budget 2026 has seen an increase of 1,042 teacher posts, including 860 additional teachers working across various Special Educational Needs settings. 

Officials of my Department regularly engage with stakeholders including teacher unions on issues like teacher supply through industrial relations forums and sectoral meetings. I am considering further measures to strengthen the teaching workforce and ensure schools are equipped to deliver high-quality education.