Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 April 2026
576. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether her Department has considered reducing the Professional Master of Education from two years to one year in light of current teacher shortages; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30344/26]
View answerThis 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 Ireland. As of November 2025, there are over 75,000 teachers employed in Irish schools, including 34,600 at post-primary level, 39,300 at primary level and 1,870 in special schools. This analysis found that just 0.7% of allocations (247 posts) in post-primary and 2.5% of allocations (996 posts) in primary were unutilised.? Few teachers resign, with less than 3% of the teaching workforce resigning or retiring annually from contracted teaching posts.
Teaching is an attractive profession, and there are a significant number of newly qualified teachers graduating annually. Over 3,600 newly qualified teachers registered with the Teaching Council in 2025 and CAO data shows a consistent demand for undergraduate ITE programmes. Salaries are competitive, currently starting at €45,379 (primary) and €46,948 (post-primary) and rising to €85,411 under the current pay deal.
Changes to the duration and content of initial teacher education programmes were made in response to recommendations in the National Strategy to Improve Literacy and Numeracy among children and Young People 2011-2020. What had been the ‘H-Dip’ of 18 months at primary and 1 year at post-primary became the two-year Professional Master of Education for both. The standards were arrived at following extensive research and consultation with regard to the programme that would be required in order to develop the skills, knowledge, understanding, and professional values expected of newly qualified teachers.
The extended duration allows for substantial periods of school placement and a number of mandatory elements in all programmes (eg: literacy and numeracy/ ICT in teaching and learning/Inclusive and Global Citizenship Education). These standards were recently updated by the Council in Céim (2020) which reaffirms that post-graduate ITE programmes shall be a minimum of two years’ duration.
While there are currently no plans to reduce the current duration of the postgraduate ITE programmes, the Department’s ongoing approach is to continue to develop and implement measures to improve the availability of teachers.
These include improving tenure for teachers; 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.
New regulations now allow teachers who qualified overseas to complete their induction in Ireland and incremental credit is also available to teachers returning from abroad, depending on the teaching experience gained.
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, with a requirement to complete at least 2 years of post-qualification teaching in a recognised post-primary school.
In addition, free upskilling programmes for teachers are offered in high-demand subjects: Irish, French, politics & society, and computer science, maths, physics, and Spanish. These flexible programmes boost teachers’ employment opportunities while addressing subject-specific teacher shortages.
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. These recommendations will form the basis for the development by my Department of a strategic plan for the teaching workforce in Ireland.
Increases in teaching posts have outpaced student population growth in both primary and post-primary schools. Since 2018/2019, there has been an increase of 15% in teaching posts at primary and 20% at post-primary.
Budget 2026 has seen an increase of 1,042 teacher posts, including 860 additional teachers working across various Special Educational Needs settings.
I am considering further measures to strengthen the teaching workforce and ensure that schools have the support needed to provide an excellent education for every student.
