Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 December 2025
432. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of male and female teachers in primary schools on a county-by-county breakdown; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [73410/25]
View answer433. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of male and female teachers in post primary schools on a county-by-county breakdown; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [73411/25]
View answer434. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Youth the percentage of male and female teachers in primary schools across the State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [73412/25]
View answer435. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Youth the percentage of male and female teachers in post primary schools across the State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [73413/25]
View answer436. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of male teachers and female teachers in the education system at both primary and secondary level each year for the period 2015 to 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [73414/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 432 to 436, inclusive, together.
This Government is fully committed to ensuring that every child has a positive school experience, with access to qualified and engaged teachers who are dedicated to supporting their learning.
The Department produces and publishes a range of data on teachers including the gender of teachers appointed. The data including the number of male and female teachers in the education system at both primary and post-primary level each year for the period 2015 to 2025 may be found on the Teacher Statistics section to the Department's website, using this link: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/publications/teacher-statistics/
The ratio of female to male teachers in primary and post-primary schools (Excl ETBs) in the 2024/25 school year was 6:1 and 2:1 respectively.
In addition, the Department recently published 3 reports on teacher supply including data on an analysis of the Teaching Council register, a survey of substitutes and a survey of teacher unmet demand in post-primary schools.
An analysis of teacher payroll data, as of March 2025, shows there are 79,225 teachers employed in our schools across the country with 43,221 at primary level including special schools and 36,004 in post-primary schools.
From data provided by the Department’s payroll in June 2025 for the 2024/2025 school year, there were 68,175 teachers (excluding principals) in primary and post-primary schools (excluding ETBs).
|
- |
Number of Teachers** |
% of Total number of teachers |
|
Primary (Female) |
37,757 |
55.38% |
|
Primary (Male) |
6,356 |
9.32% |
|
Post-Primary (Female)* |
16,485 |
24.18% |
|
Post-Primary (Male)* |
7,577 |
11.11% |
|
Total |
68,175 |
|
*Excludes ETB Teachers
**Excludes principals
Note: the figures in the above table are extracted from Payroll databases on 30th June each year which includes contracted and casual teachers.
Primary School Teachers by County
|
- |
Female |
Male |
Total |
|
Carlow |
521 |
77 |
598 |
|
Cavan |
658 |
99 |
757 |
|
Clare |
883 |
194 |
1,077 |
|
Cork |
4,218 |
899 |
5,117 |
|
Donegal |
1,308 |
204 |
1,512 |
|
Dublin |
8,904 |
1,789 |
10,693 |
|
Galway |
2,049 |
403 |
2,452 |
|
Kerry |
1,090 |
238 |
1,328 |
|
Kildare |
1,723 |
307 |
2,030 |
|
Kilkenny |
662 |
138 |
800 |
|
Laois |
727 |
144 |
871 |
|
Leitrim |
257 |
36 |
293 |
|
Limerick |
1,574 |
346 |
1,920 |
|
Longford |
390 |
67 |
457 |
|
Louth |
1,117 |
222 |
1,339 |
|
Mayo |
1,020 |
195 |
1,215 |
|
Meath |
1,611 |
297 |
1,908 |
|
Monaghan |
526 |
57 |
583 |
|
Offaly |
696 |
115 |
811 |
|
Roscommon |
558 |
96 |
654 |
|
Sligo |
491 |
78 |
569 |
|
Tipperary |
1,255 |
250 |
1,505 |
|
Waterford |
921 |
174 |
1,095 |
|
Westmeath |
754 |
134 |
888 |
|
Wexford |
1,232 |
199 |
1431 |
|
Wicklow |
1,159 |
159 |
1318 |
|
Total |
36,304 |
6,917 |
43,221 |
Note: The county-by-county data provided above is extracted from the March 2025 payroll analysis.
Post-Primary School Teachers by County
|
- |
Female |
Male |
Total |
|
Carlow |
240 |
96 |
336 |
|
Cavan |
199 |
94 |
293 |
|
Clare |
404 |
174 |
578 |
|
Cork |
1,992 |
935 |
2,927 |
|
Donegal |
514 |
223 |
737 |
|
Dublin |
4,087 |
2,101 |
6,188 |
|
Galway |
991 |
457 |
1,448 |
|
Kerry |
561 |
248 |
809 |
|
Kildare |
709 |
321 |
1,030 |
|
Kilkenny |
281 |
151 |
432 |
|
Laois |
272 |
128 |
400 |
|
Leitrim |
91 |
34 |
125 |
|
Limerick |
596 |
287 |
883 |
|
Longford |
177 |
75 |
252 |
|
Louth |
565 |
237 |
802 |
|
Mayo |
560 |
209 |
769 |
|
Meath |
442 |
189 |
631 |
|
Monaghan |
163 |
81 |
244 |
|
Offaly |
256 |
114 |
370 |
|
Roscommon |
205 |
96 |
301 |
|
Sligo |
254 |
107 |
361 |
|
Tipperary |
570 |
257 |
827 |
|
Waterford |
455 |
210 |
665 |
|
Westmeath |
399 |
172 |
571 |
|
Wexford |
572 |
276 |
848 |
|
Wicklow |
390 |
198 |
588 |
|
Total |
15,945 |
7,470 |
23,415 |
Note: The county-by-county data provided above is extracted from the March 2025 payroll analysis.
Post-Primary School Teachers by ETB
|
- |
Female |
Male |
Total |
|
Cavan – Monaghan ETB |
408 |
160 |
568 |
|
City of Dublin ETB |
276 |
160 |
436 |
|
Cork ETB |
906 |
443 |
1,349 |
|
Donegal ETB |
401 |
184 |
585 |
|
Dublin - Dun Laoghaire ETB |
1,307 |
612 |
1,919 |
|
Galway - Roscommon ETB |
497 |
261 |
758 |
|
Kerry ETB |
212 |
104 |
316 |
|
Kildare – Wicklow ETB |
959 |
439 |
1,398 |
|
Kilkenny – Carlow ETB |
353 |
171 |
524 |
|
Laois – Offaly ETB |
289 |
143 |
432 |
|
Limerick – Clare ETB |
604 |
280 |
884 |
|
Longford – Westmeath ETB |
242 |
126 |
368 |
|
Louth – Meath ETB |
855 |
435 |
1,290 |
|
Mayo-Sligo-Leitrim ETB |
383 |
172 |
555 |
|
Tipperary ETB |
350 |
182 |
532 |
|
Waterford – Wexford ETB |
441 |
204 |
645 |
|
Total |
8,483 |
4,076 |
12,559 |
Note: The ETB data provided above is extracted from the March 2025 payroll analysis.
To address teacher supply issues, my Department has implemented several measures that have led to:
• an increase of 20% in Initial Teacher Education graduates (student teachers) between 2018 and 2023, and
• over 30% increase in the number of teachers registered with the Teaching Council since 2017.
The Department provides a range of measures to address teacher supply. The Department announced new measures in 2025 including assisting teachers gain permanent roles more quickly and approving regulations recently to allow teachers who qualified overseas to undertake their induction in the State. In addition, measures including a STEM bursary, an expansion of upskilling programmes, improving the availability of substitution and continuing promotion of teaching as a profession have been introduced.
My Department remains committed to supporting a diverse and sustainable teaching workforce and is currently developing a strategic workforce plan for the teaching profession, in partnership with UNESCO and supported by the European Commission’s Technical Support Instrument. This plan will include analysis of workforce demographics and is expected to report in mid 2026.
The Department will continue to consider further measures to strengthen the teaching workforce and ensure that schools have the support needed to provide an excellent education for every student.
