asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the particular difficulty for teachers of Church of Ireland national schools who are forced to go on the panel. in that they will find it virtually impossible in many areas to get an alternative appointment.
Written Answers. - National School Teachers Panel.
12.
Under the terms of the Rules for National Schools eligible teachers whose posts are discontinued may opt for inclusion on a Diocesan or other approved panel to enable them to obtain alternative posts in other schools. Such teachers continue to serve with pay in their original schools while awaiting redeployment. Teachers placed on the panel will have the opportunity to be deployed to fillable vacancies created by the teachers who leave the service in large numbers at the end of each school year.
In addition, I am implementing a voluntary redundancy/early retirement scheme for teachers which will create additional vacancies in schools and these vacancies will be filled, where appropriate, by the redeployment of teachers on the panel. Accordingly, I do not expect that teachers of Church of Ireland schools will have undue difficulty in obtaining alternative appointments.