Vol. 484 No. 3
359 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science further to Parliamentary Question No. 266 of 18 November 1997 if he will give details of the circumstances in which the application was deemed ineligible in accordance with the provision of the circular in view of the fact that the circular makes no reference to career breaks. [21922/97]
I explained in my previous answer on 18 November 1997 that, although the circular makes no reference to career breaks, it was intended that the provisions set out in the circular for early retirement were to be availed of by teachers in current teaching service. In the case of applicants under strand 3, under which the person referred to by the Deputy applied, the circular specifies that applicants must be in posts which are surplus to requirements. The person in question is not in a teaching post but is on unpaid leave from her post, being on a career break. She was consequently notified by my Department on 29 August 1997 that her application was ineligible.
