Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 October 2023
292. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the reason that a qualified Irish teacher, who worked in a school in Abu Dhabi, and is now looking to return to the Irish labour force, is not entitled to increments; and what plans she has to ensure teacher retention in Ireland and ensure that teachers who are in similar circumstances are welcomed back with equality of opportunity and treatment. [42179/23]
View answerThe criteria for the award of incremental credit are set out in my Department’s Circulars 10/2001 for Primary teachers, 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).
These circulars provide for the award of incremental credit in respect of teaching service outside the EU where the schools satisfy the criteria set out in the circulars to have service at that school recognised for incremental credit. Criteria such as state funding and the length of time the school has been in existence must be satisfied in order for service at that school to be recognised for incremental credit. Where schools do not satisfy the required criteria, then service at that school cannot be considered towards incremental credit. Teachers must be on my Department’s payroll or teaching in an Education and Training Board school before an application can be processed.
The issue of standardising the awarding of incremental credit for teachers along with other incremental credit issues are currently the subject of an incremental credit committee which is a sub-committee of the Teachers Conciliation Council. The Department is currently reviewing the issues raised at the sub-committee.
The Department of Education is engaging closely with school management bodies, teacher unions and other education stakeholders to develop further, innovative measures to improve the availability of teachers. It is accepted that there remain challenges and further steps need to be considered and taken. A range of new measures are being progressed.
The number of newly qualified teachers registering annually with the Teaching Council has also increased in recent years. More than 3,700 newly qualified teachers registered in 2022 and the total number of teachers on the Council's register is now more than 118,000. There has been a 25% increase in teachers registered with the teaching Council since 2017 (94,928 to 118,751).
Teaching remains an attractive career choice for our young people, as evidenced by the significant number who elect to pursue teacher training at undergraduate and graduate level.
Turas Abhaile, an initiative of the post-primary school management bodies and National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) provides support to those schools recruiting teachers. In excess of 30 teachers have been recruited in recent weeks.
Newly qualified teachers (NQTs) who qualified outside Ireland may complete their induction in Ireland. This measure seeks to enhance the supply of NQTs available to schools.
Free upskilling programmes are available for registered teachers to upskill in subjects where teacher supply is tight, such as Spanish, mathematics and physics. A new Irish upskilling programme is planned for 2024.
The Government is committed to the delivery of quality public services and will continue to approach public service pay in a balanced way that is reasonable and fair to both public servants and to the taxpayer. Data recently compiled at European level found that Irish teachers were among the best paid in Europe.
