My Department is aware of the work undertaken by Dublin City University's centre for collaborative research.
Data available to my Department shows that 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 €83,576 and €85,411 under the current pay deal.
The data shows that few teachers resign, with less than 3% of the teaching workforce resigning or retiring annually from contracted teaching posts, one of the lowest rates in the OECD.
The data shows that there are more qualified teachers than ever working in Ireland. As of March 2026, there are over 74,000 teachers employed in Irish schools, including 40,283 at primary level and 34,396 at post-primary level. This analysis found that just 0.1% of allocations (24 posts) in primary and 1.4% of allocations (477 posts) in post-primary were unutilised.
An Occupational Health Strategy is in place as a supportive resource for staff and leaders in schools. The aim of the Occupational Health Strategy is to promote the health and wellbeing of employees in the workplace, with a strong focus on prevention. The Occupational Health Strategy comprises the Employee Assistance Service and the Occupational Health Service.
The Employee Assistance Service is provided by Spectrum Life and is a self-referral service where school staff have access to a dedicated free-phone confidential helpline. The service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The Employee Assistance Service provides advice to all school staff on a range of issues including wellbeing, bereavement, conflict and mediation.
Where appropriate, short-term counselling sessions are available to staff and their family members. These sessions are provided on an individual basis by qualified, accredited/registered counsellors. Up to six sessions can be provided, either via face to face, by telephone or online.
In circumstances where short-term counselling is determined to be not clinically appropriate, the EAS provides for Interim Counselling Sessions while the staff member or their family member are awaiting engagement with specialised, or open-ended services to ensure the individual feels supported and guided during the waiting period.
The Department would encourage teachers and school leaders to avail of the supports available if required and the Department has undertaken a number of steps over the course of recent years to raise the profile of the Occupational Health Strategy, such as arranging attendance at the teacher union conferences for the Employee Assistance Service provider.
