Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 January 2023
669. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Education the way that her Department is proposing to deal with applications for leave from secondary and primary school teachers given that in cases in which leave is refused teachers are likely to resign and may go to work in other jurisdictions resulting in the loss of teachers who have built up valuable experience to date to the Irish educational system; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63301/22]
View answerThere is a range of statutory and non-statutory leave types available to registered teachers employed in recognised Primary and Post Primary schools. The eligibility criteria for entitlement to each leave type can vary and, in general, the terms and conditions which are applicable to each leave type are published in my Department’s Circular Letters.
Where a teacher wishes to apply for a specific leave type, either statutory or non-statutory, they must apply to their employer. A teacher’s employer is the Board of Management/Manager in the case of primary (excluding community national schools), voluntary secondary, community and comprehensive schools and an Education and Training Board (ETB) for vocational schools/community colleges and community national schools.
Each employer is required to implement a policy on teacher absences, including non-statutory leave schemes e.g. Career Breaks, Job-Sharing etc., which is specific to the needs of the school authority. The welfare and educational needs of the pupils must take precedence over all other considerations. This policy must have due regard to the capacity of the school to meet its obligations to its pupils.
An employer may therefore apply a limit to the number of teachers that may avail of non-statutory leave schemes at any one time. Employers must consider leave applications in the context of other statutory and non-statutory leave applications. They must also take into account the availability of an appropriately qualified replacement teacher.
