1114. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will review the criteria used by her Department to award incremental salary credit to returning Irish teachers with overseas experience; if she will specifically address the current discrepancy where primary teachers frequently receive credit for international experience while post-primary teachers face widespread refusals; her views on whether excluding service in highly-regulated private international schools, such as those delivering the International Baccalaureate curriculum, hinders teacher recruitment efforts during a severe domestic shortage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54845/26]

The criteria for the award of incremental credit are set out in the Department of Education’s Circular 10/2001 for Primary teachers, and Circulars 29/2007 and 29/2010 for Post-Primary teachers. These circulars provide for the award of incremental credit in respect of prior teaching service, including overseas teaching service, both within and outside the EU and/or relevant non-teaching service.

Where the service/school satisfies the criteria set out in the circulars to have service at that school recognised for incremental credit, an award of incremental credit can be made.

Common reasons for why applications for incremental credit for teaching service outside of the EU can be refused are that:

• the school is not in receipt of any state funding,

• the school does not offer the range of studies which incorporates all of the courses prescribed on the national curriculum of the State in which the school is located,

• the length of time the school has been in existence,

• the service at the school has not been deemed to be satisfactory,

• the applicant was not a qualified teacher at the time the service was provided.

Where the school/service being claimed does not satisfy the required criteria, then service at that school cannot be considered towards incremental credit.

The criteria for the award of incremental credit to recognised teachers were agreed under the auspices of the Teachers Conciliation Council (TCC) and are subject to review by way of an incremental credit committee, which is a sub-committee of the TCC and which meets on an ongoing basis. Any changes to the criteria must be agreed through the established mechanism in place.

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. According to the latest published figures from November 2025, there are over 75,000 teachers employed in schools across the country and over 98% of allocated teaching posts are filled.

The teaching profession is highly attractive, with strong demand for teacher education programmes with over 3,600 newly qualified teachers registered with the Teaching Council in 2025 with over 128,000 on the register. Few teachers resign, with less than 3% of the teaching workforce resigning or retiring annually from contracted teaching posts.

In addition, to assist teacher supply, recently regulations were approved to allow teachers who qualified overseas to undertake their induction in the State.

A number of measures have been introduced to address subject-specific teacher shortages at post-primary level:

- Free upskilling programmes for teachers are offered in high-demand subjects: Irish, French, politics & society, computer science, maths, physics and Spanish.

- STEM Bursary: a €2,000 annual bursary for student teachers in STEM fields during the final two years of their undergraduate teacher education, with a requirement to complete at least 2 years of teaching post-qualification in a recognised post-primary school.

A comprehensive workforce plan for the education sector, a commitment under the Programme for Government, is in development. Additionally,aproject 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.