Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 April 2026
216. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether she is considering any measures to support the recruitment and retention of maths teachers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27700/26]
View answer217. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether she is considering a measure (details supplied) to support the recruitment and retention of maths teachers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27701/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 216 and 217 together.
This Government is 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.
There are more qualified teachers than ever working in schools; an analysis of payroll data as of November 2025 found that just 0.7% of allocations (247 posts) in post-primary were unused.? Few teachers leave a teaching post, with less than 3% of the teaching workforce resigning or retiring annually from contracted teaching posts.
A recent report by my officials found that there were 52.77 vacant maths teacher posts in the 2023/24 school year. It should be noted that there were over 30,000 post-primary teachers employed during that period. These data on vacancies by subject for the 2023/2024 school year are available at this link assets.gov.ie/static/documents/f30264cc/Survey_of_Unmet_Demand_School_year_2023_24.pdf>
A number of measures have been implemented to support the availability of maths teachers. Budget 2025 introduced a €2,000 annual bursary for student teachers in STEM fields, including maths, chemistry, physics, biology, computer science and engineering, during the final two years of their undergraduate teacher education. Beneficiaries will be required to complete at least two years of post-qualification teaching in a recognised post-primary school. In January 2026, my Department issued Circular No. 0019/2026 Concurrent Initial Teacher Education Bursary Scheme (STEM Bursary) setting out the eligibility criteria and application process for this scheme. The aim of the scheme is to encourage more students to train as STEM teachers to help increase the number available to post-primary schools.
In addition, upskilling programmes for teachers have been increased in high-demand subjects such as maths, Irish, French, politics & society, and computer science, physics and Spanish. These flexible programmes, free to registered teachers, boost teachers’ employment opportunities while addressing subject-specific teacher shortages; 482 teachers have completed the maths upskilling programme.
The education requirements necessary to enter onto the register of teachers, a legal requirement to hold a teaching post funded by the Oireachtas, are determined by the Teaching Council. Changes to initial teacher education (ITE) programs were initially made in response to recommendations in the National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among Children and Young People 2011-2020, and these changes were incorporated into the Teaching Council's accreditation standards. My Department has no plans to reduce the current duration of postgraduate ITE programmes, or to create exemptions from the need to have an accredited teaching qualification.
Additionally, this Government has implemented several measures to address teacher supply issues more generally that have led to:
- an increase of 20% in initial teacher education graduates (student teachers) between 2018 and 2023,
- and an over 30% increase in the number of teachers registered with the Teaching Council since 2017.
In 2025, a measure was announced to enable teachers gain permanent roles more quickly; teachers taking up their first contract in a viable post will be eligible for a permanent position after one year, subject to successful re-appointment through a competitive process.
Recently regulations were approved to allow?teachers who qualified overseas?to undertake their?induction in the State and incremental credit is also available to teachers returning from abroad, depending on the teaching experience gained.
A comprehensive workforce plan for the education sector, a commitment under the Programme for Government, is in development. Additionally,?a?project focused on strategic workforce planning for teachers in Ireland, led by UNESCO and supported by the EU Commission, is developing recommendations for addressing the main factors affecting teacher supply in Ireland. The recommendations put forward in the context of the project will form the basis for the development by my Department of a strategic workforce plan for the teaching workforce in Ireland.
