238. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Education and Youth if her Department or the Teaching Council has surveyed registered Irish teachers currently resident outside the State to determine the factors preventing or discouraging them from returning to teach in Ireland, including salary, recognition of overseas teaching experience, housing, availability of permanent full-time positions and registration requirements; if so, to provide the findings; and if not, whether she will undertake such a survey in 2026 as part of the development of the teacher workforce plan. [66355/26]

A survey of registered Irish teachers currently resident outside the State to determine the factors preventing or discouraging them from returning to teach in Ireland has not been carried out and there are currently no plans to do so.

Relatively few teachers are working outside the State. Recently published research on the number of teachers registered indicates that around 4,600 teachers were outside the State, while maintaining their registered teacher status in Ireland, indicating an intention to teach in Ireland.

An analysis of payroll data from November 2025 shows there are over 75,000 teachers employed in schools across the country and over 98% of allocated teaching posts are filled nationwide.

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, starting at €45,833 (primary) and €47,417 (post-primary) and rising to €84,412 and €86,265 under the current pay deal. Few teachers resign, with less than 3% of the teaching workforce resigning or retiring annually from contracted teaching posts.

While the majority of allocated teaching posts are filled, certain schools experience ongoing challenges in recruiting teachers. Attracting qualified teachers, whether working overseas or not, is required to address teacher supply issues, and several measures are already in place to support teachers who are working abroad to return to Ireland.

The Department of Education and Youth currently has a scheme in place which allows for teachers who work in an Oireachtas funded teaching post to apply for incremental credit with respect to previous teaching service which they accrued while teaching outside of Ireland. The criteria for the award of incremental credit are set out in the Department’s Circulars 10/2001 for primary teachers, and 29/2007 and 29/2010 for post-primary teachers. The criteria for the award of incremental credit to recognised teachers was agreed under the auspices of the Teachers Conciliation Council (TCC). These circulars provide for the award of incremental credit in respect of overseas teaching service both within and outside the EU.

In addition, my department recently approved regulations to allow teachers who qualified overseas to undertake their induction in the State. This will help to encourage teachers abroad to take up teaching roles in Ireland.

Turas Abhaile is an initiative of the Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools (ACCS) and the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), which has assisted teachers based abroad to return to teach in Ireland since September 2019. Turas Abhaile matches teachers with specific vacancies and participating schools to facilitate online interviews to suit the preferences of candidates.

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.

My Department recently published revised arrangements for the award of a Contract of Indefinite Duration to 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.

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

- 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.

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

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, has published recommendations for addressing the main factors affecting teacher supply in Ireland. The project report, which was launched on 7th September 2026, can be accessed online at the following link unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000399288.locale=en

Recommendations include measures focused on subject-specific shortages at post-primary, substitute teachers, special education, Irish Medium Education, DEIS primary, cost-of-living concerns, data management and diversity in the profession.