Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 October 2023
241. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the number of teachers and staff recruited by schools over the summer period who have not yet received their salaries or wages, per county, in tabular form. [44220/23]
View answerI wish to outline to the Deputy details of the procedures to process applications for teachers and school staff appointments at the start of each new school year, and the commitment of staff of my Department to efficiently process these applications.
Early in the New Year, each school is advised by my Department of their teaching allocations for the forthcoming school year. It is the responsibility of the school Management Authority to ensure that all teaching posts are filled. Vacancies may arise in schools as a result of additional teaching posts being allocated, retirements, teachers moving to another school, career breaks, job sharing arrangements, or other absences.
Once a school has selected a successful candidate for a vacancy, they must provide the teacher’s appointment details to my Department in order to be set up on payroll. These details are provided in an appointment form and include details of the teachers’ appointment, type of contract, Teaching Council registration details, bank details, etc.
My Department gives an annual commitment to Schools, teachers, Unions and Education Partners that all correctly completed appointment forms received in Payroll Division in late June or early July will be paid on the first pay date in September. For the 2023/24 school year, these dates were 7th July 2023 for primary school teachers and Non Teaching Staff, and 30th June 2023 for post primary schools.
Appointment forms received after these dates are processed in date order of receipt. The majority of these appointment forms are also processed in time for salary payments to be made on the first pay date of September, or as early as possible thereafter.
There are, however, many instances where a school forwards a late appointment form after the start of the school year. This may be because it has taken some time for the school to recruit someone to a vacant position.
There are also instances where incomplete information is initially received and additional information is required in order to complete the processing of the appointment.
Schools may also continue to submit applications for fixed term contracts for school staff up to 31st October.
In some instances, schools may have commenced to appoint persons locally, but may not have submitted the appointment forms to my Department.
Accordingly, it is not possible to advise the Deputy how many staff recruited by schools for the 2023/24 school year have not yet received salaries or wages. My Department only becomes aware that a person may have been recruited by a school, once the appointment form has been submitted to my Department.
I wish to reassure the Deputy that staff in my Department are in direct contact with schools and teachers, on an ongoing basis. They are highly aware of the financial pressure that late payments of salary can place on teachers, especially newly qualified teachers and every effort is made to resolve issues as soon as possible and to ensure prompt payment. The majority of appointment applications have now been processed for the 2023/24 school year, and any outstanding applications are dealt with as soon as possible upon receipt of the appointment forms.
