Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 January 2026
344. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of unfilled teaching posts and the number of days schools in County Waterford were unable to secure a substitute teacher in each of the years 2020 to 2025, in tabular form. [3169/26]
View answer345. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of unfilled teaching posts and the number of days schools were unable to secure a substitute teacher for each county in each year 2020 to 2025, in tabular form. [3170/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 345 and 344 together.
Ensuring that every child's experience in school is positive and that they have qualified, engaged teachers available to support them in their learning is a priority area of action for the Government.
As with other sectors, recruitment challenges exist in some schools. To address teacher supply issues including the recruitment of substitutes, the Government 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.
There are more qualified teachers than ever working in schools with an analysis of payroll data as of March 2025, showing 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. This analysis found that over 97% of allocated teaching posts were filled nationwide. Teacher attrition remains low, with fewer than 3% resigning or retiring annually, one of the lowest rates in the OECD.
While most teaching positions are filled, some schools face significant recruitment challenges. Payroll data from March 2025 shows the number of unfilled teaching posts remains low. Analysis of the teacher payroll shows 3.1% (1,228 posts) of primary allocations and 1.8% of allocations (621 posts) in post-primary were unutilised. This relatively low vacancy rates suggests that the vast majority of schools are well-staffed and able to meet the needs of their students.
The Department does not collect data for unfilled teaching posts from individual schools but data from the analysis of teacher payrolls for March 2025 showed the following unutilised allocated teaching posts in primary and post-primary schools per county including County Waterford.
Table: Unutilised Teaching Posts as at March 2025
|
County |
Primary Unutilised Posts |
Post-primary Unutilised Posts |
Total Unutilised Posts |
|
Carlow |
16.5 |
6.1 |
22.6 |
|
Cavan |
14.8 |
11.6 |
26.4 |
|
Clare |
19.2 |
14.1 |
33.3 |
|
Cork |
137.7 |
93.8 |
231.4 |
|
Donegal |
21.9 |
53.8 |
75.7 |
|
Dublin |
512.1 |
120.9 |
633.0 |
|
Galway |
32.8 |
25.1 |
57.9 |
|
Kerry |
9.8 |
37.2 |
47.0 |
|
Kildare |
93.0 |
18.9 |
111.9 |
|
Kilkenny |
15.6 |
19.1 |
34.7 |
|
Laois |
24.9 |
9.6 |
34.4 |
|
Leitrim |
6.0 |
6.6 |
12.6 |
|
Limerick |
20.8 |
18.0 |
38.9 |
|
Longford |
5.0 |
-2.4 |
2.6 |
|
Louth |
36.5 |
-13.5 |
23.0 |
|
Mayo |
27.3 |
17.1 |
44.4 |
|
Meath |
54.0 |
53.4 |
107.4 |
|
Monaghan |
7.9 |
2.6 |
10.5 |
|
Offaly |
12.7 |
8.2 |
20.9 |
|
Roscommon |
1.0 |
15.4 |
16.4 |
|
Sligo |
14.1 |
18.7 |
32.8 |
|
Tipperary |
22.5 |
27.5 |
50.0 |
|
Waterford |
20.9 |
15.8 |
36.7 |
|
Westmeath |
26.9 |
8.6 |
35.4 |
|
Wexford |
36.3 |
11.0 |
47.3 |
|
Wicklow |
37.6 |
24.2 |
61.8 |
|
Total |
1227.7 |
621.4 |
1849.1 |
As substitutable leave absences may be filled by schools in several ways and given that data on how these absences are filled are held by individual schools, it is not possible to provide accurate data on the number of days schools were unable to secure a substitute teacher.
A substitute teacher may be recruited locally by a school, and a claim for payment for the teacher may be submitted to my Department, via the Online Claims System. Alternatively, the absence may be covered by schools under a number of schemes, which are managed locally by schools.
The Supervision and Substitution Scheme allows for the supervision of students during breaks and before and after school and allows for substitution to cover certain categories of teacher absences. With effect from the beginning of the 2013/14 school year, participation in the Supervision and Substitution scheme is compulsory for teachers, save for those who had availed of the opt-out arrangements before this date. All schools therefore provide cover for a significant number of substitutable absences, arising over the school year, through the Supervision and Substitution scheme.
For primary schools, substitute teacher supply panels are also in place. For the 2025/26 school year, 587 substitute teacher supply posts have been allocated to 168 panels, covering 2,905 school. This scheme provides substitute cover for teachers employed in primary schools who are absent on short-term leave. Absences covered by the teacher supply panels are recorded locally by the schools and the schools are not required to claim for the substitutable leave to my Department.
My Department has also continued the suspension of the usual limits on career break and job-sharing schemes and extended the Teaching Hours Extension Scheme for post-primary teachers to the current school year 2025/26 to increase the pool of teachers available to undertake substitute work in schools.
A range of measures have been introduced to address teacher supply. In 2025, a measure was announced to enable teachers gain permanent roles more quickly and more recently regulations were approved to allow teachers who qualified overseas to undertake their induction in the State.
Budget 2025 introduced a €2,000 bursary for student teachers in STEM fields, to increase the number of qualified STEM teachers in post-primary schools. Upskilling programmes have been expanded: registered post-primary teachers, regardless of employment status, can avail of free upskilling programmes, including in Irish, foreign languages and STEM subjects. These flexible programmes boost teachers’ employment opportunities while addressing subject-specific teacher shortages. New programmes in Irish, French, politics & society, and computer science commenced in 2025, with over 160 teachers registered on these programmes and complement existing programmes in maths, physics, and Spanish.
A comprehensive workforce plan for the education sector, a commitment under the Programme for Government is in development. Additionally, preparations are being made to host an education convention, a Programme for Government commitment, that will bring together all stakeholders to share their experiences, expectations, and hopes for the future of our education system.
A project, supported by UNESCO and the EU Commission, will create a strategic plan for managing Ireland’s teaching workforce is part of the workforce planning activity currently underway. This two-year project will involve consultations with key stakeholders to develop recommendations with a report due in 2026.
The profession is attractive, with strong demand for teacher education programmes, with 3,600 newly qualified teachers, including 1,800 post-primary teachers registered with the Teaching Council in 2025. Salaries are competitive, starting at €44,879 (primary) and €46,448 (post-primary) and rising to €85,000 under the current pay deal.
Around 6% of first-choice CAO applications from 2017–2024 were for teaching, showing steady demand. In 2025, first preferences rose by 9% in primary and 5% for post-primary teaching. 85% of newly appointed primary teachers in 2024/25 are on full-time, mostly fixed-term contracts Over 75% of new post-primary teachers are employed full-time. 93% of teachers with 5+ years’ experience hold permanent full-time or pro-rata contracts.
My Department frequently consults and engages closely with stakeholders on teacher supply issues through industrial relations forums, sectoral meetings, and direct discussions. Further measures to strengthen the teaching workforce will be considered to ensure that schools have the support needed to provide an excellent education for every student.
