322. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Education and Youth to support a unions request to provide immediate investment to address teacher shortages and overcrowded classrooms (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [67897/26]

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.

The Government is investing a record €14.1 billion in education and schools through Budget 2026. This record level of investment has enabled significant progress in tackling educational disadvantage and supporting children and young people with special educational needs to achieve their full potential.

This funding reflects the Government’s continued commitment, under the Programme for Government, to ensuring that every child and young person can learn, thrive and reach their full potential. It builds on the progress made in recent years, while recognising that further work is needed to make education more inclusive and equitable for all.

Funding has been provided for 860 special education teachers, across special schools and mainstream settings, along with more than 1,700 SNAs, a €48 million full year investment across both the DEIS strategy and the DEIS Plus scheme. Approximately 30,000 children and young people attending DEIS Plus schools will benefit from these targeted supports.

Schools in the DEIS Plus scheme will receive strengthened, research informed supports across wellbeing, attendance, engagement, guidance, leadership capacity, community partnerships and access to services, including the introduction of a new positive mental health and wellbeing initiative to support a whole school approach to student wellbeing.

In addition, school leadership supports have been increased and will see additional deputy principals in primary and post-primary schools in the 2026/27 school year.

According to the latest published data from November 2025, there are over 39,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers employed in primary schools across the country. This represents an increase of over 3,000 primary teachers when compared with the 2019/20 school year and this has led to a steady improvement in the Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) and average class size during this period.

In recent Budgets, prioritisation was given to reducing the PTR in primary schools, which has brought the teacher allocation ratio to an average of 1 classroom teacher for every 23 pupils in all primary schools, the most favourable ratio ever seen at primary level. A three-point reduction in the retention schedule, which was introduced in 2021, assists schools that would otherwise be at risk of losing teaching posts.

The latest figures in relation to PTR shows an improved ratio of pupils to teachers from 15:1 to 12.6:1 at primary level when comparing the 2019/20 school year to the 2025/26 school year. In the same period, the primary staffing schedule improved from 26:1 to 23:1 and average class sizes at primary have improved from 24:1 to 21.9:1.

The Government has significantly invested in our schools and in our teacher workforce in recent years. The Programme for Government commits to make further progress in this area with an aim to reduce the general PTR at primary level to 19:1 over the term of government.

I am considering how best to make further progress as part of the annual budgetary process in reducing the primary PTR in the context of Programme for Government implementation.

As of November 2025, 2.5% of FTE allocations, or 996 posts, at primary level were unutilised.

Teaching is an attractive profession, and there are a significant number of newly qualified teachers graduating annually. Over 1,800 newly qualified primary 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 and rising to €84,412 under the current pay deal. Few teachers resign, with less than 3% of the teaching workforce resigning or retiring annually from contracted teaching posts.

To address teacher supply issues, the Government has implemented several measures that have led to:

• an increase of 20% in initial teacher education graduates (student teachers) between 2018 and 2023, and

•  over 30% increase in the number of teachers registered with the Teaching Council since 2017.

My department has 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.

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, 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.

In the 2025/26 school year, 50,111 days were covered by non-registered substitutes at primary level. This equates to 5.8% of all subbed days at primary level and 0.7% of overall teaching days at primary level.

There are a range of measures in place to improve the availability of substitutes to schools.

The Supervision and Substitution Scheme allows for the supervision of students during breaks and before and after school and allows for substitution to cover certain categories of teacher absences.

For primary schools, substitute teacher supply panels are also in place. For the 2025/26 school year, 587 substitute teacher supply posts have been allocated to 168 panels, covering 2,905 schools This scheme provides substitute cover for teachers employed in primary schools who are absent on short-term leave. Absences covered by the teacher supply panels are recorded locally by the schools and the schools are not required to claim for the substitutable leave to my Department.

The Department also continued the suspension of the usual limits on career break and job-sharing schemes to the 2025/26 school year to increase the pool of teachers available to undertake substitute work in primary schools.

In addition, communications campaigns have been run to encourage retired teachers to return to teaching and student teachers registered under Route 5 with the Teaching Council provide valuable substitution cover.

I am considering further measures for Budget 2027 to strengthen the teaching workforce and ensure that schools have the support needed to provide an excellent education for every student.