I welcome the Minister. I want to raise the issue of a post-primary school teacher voluntary relocation scheme.

This is something the Minister will be familiar with from her former work. I have been told by a lot of teachers that there is a need for a scheme like this. They feel that there is no way out of the situation they face. When a teacher becomes permanent or gets a contract of indefinite duration, it is a recognition of their experience and work. However, if for whatever reason they decide to move school or county, their choices are quite limited and in many cases they are expected to forgo their permanency should they be lucky enough to find a redeployment opportunity. Surely the establishment of a panel for voluntary relocation is possible. We already know that this kind of scheme works. The Civil Service mobility scheme was introduced for a simple reason, namely, to allow people move closer to home without losing their job security. It improved retention, reduced stress and made the system work better. Teachers deserve the same type of solution, namely, a solution like this.

Many teachers are travelling long distances every day of the week and large numbers say they would consider leaving the profession if that had to continue. I have a list of examples here. One is an example of a teacher teaching in Kilkenny while living in Limerick and travelling 15 hours a week and over 190 km a day. There is a teacher working in Kildare who is living in Laois and travelling two hours and 124 km per day. Another teacher working in Clare and living in Galway is travelling two and a half hours and 160 km per day.

It is not about convenience for these guys. Rather, it is about people being pushed to the point where they cannot keep doing their jobs. If we want to keep teachers, we need to resolve this problem.

Teachers have told us that, if they want to move closer to home, they often have to give up the permanency of their jobs. One teacher told me that they had spent 20 years living and working in Galway, but due to family issues, they may have to move to County Offaly. They feel that it is unfair that they could lose the permanency of their role. This scheme would fix a problem like that by allowing movement without losing permanency.

This affects all people, not just teachers. Long commutes are impacting childcare, family life and overall well-being. People are delaying families. They are struggling with care responsibilities or leaving their jobs altogether. It is a human issue and this is a practical response. There is a related environmental issue, in that the long journeys mean higher emissions. We are also putting additional costs on people, given the current cost of fuel. This solution would resolve an issue like that.

This Commencement matter is about solving a problem that we already understand. We do not want to lose experienced teachers. We are putting unnecessary pressure on these teachers, but there is a clear, workable solution to this. We have already accepted this approach in the Civil Service. Surely now is the time to introduce a similar approach for post-primary school teachers.

I thank the Senator and welcome the opportunity to discuss the teacher relocation proposal. Any initiative that seeks to ensure that the educational needs of children are prioritised is to be welcomed.

The recruitment and appointment of teachers for teaching positions is managed by individual school authorities. There are over 3,700 individual school authorities responsible for this process, including boards of management at primary and post-primary levels as well as the education and training boards, ETBs. There are more qualified teachers than ever working in schools, with an analysis of payroll data from November 2025 showing that there are 75,000 teachers employed in schools across the country. This analysis found that over 98% of allocated teaching posts were filled nationwide and, as of November 2025, there were 0.7 unused allocations at post-primary level. Teacher attrition remains low, with fewer than 3% resigning or retiring annually, which is one of the lowest rates in the OECD.

The Department received a report from the Teachers Union of Ireland, TUI, in March 2023 proposing a national relocation scheme for teachers.

The scheme would allow teachers to identify preferred locations for relocation through a portal and potentially swap positions with teachers in those areas. This is distinct from a redeployment scheme, which is designed to move surpluses in the system. This proposed relocation scheme may be beneficial for those who are commuting considerable distances, as the Senator has highlighted, and for the environment more generally. However, a number of challenges are apparent. Officials from my Department met with TUI representatives in November 2023. An overview of the proposal was presented at the meeting by the TUI and a discussion followed. The proposal was subsequently considered by my Department and a reply, based on the discussions and the report received, issued to the TUI. The proposal could impact teachers across both the primary and post-primary sectors. With this in mind, the TUI was invited to engage with other teacher unions and management bodies to develop a jointly agreed proposal on a relocation scheme.

There is a range of issues to be considered, including the application process, dispute resolution, seniority and the impact on other redeployment schemes. Further correspondence was received from the TUI on this matter in February 2024, with a reply issuing from the Department in April 2024. The reply from the Department acknowledged that some of the issues raised in the TUI's original correspondence had been addressed. The reply also highlighted key areas that remained to be addressed, including engaging with other stakeholders in the sector to agree a proposal.

It should be noted that an existing voluntary redeployment pilot, distinct from the relocation scheme proposed by the TUI, is in operation. The key purpose of the pilot voluntary redeployment scheme is to assist the Department to achieve the objective of redeploying all surplus permanent teachers.

I thank the Minister very much for her detailed response. I am glad she brought up the ongoing engagement with the TUI because the motion passed at the 2022 congress instructed the executive to negotiate with the Department of education and other employers to establish a national voluntary redeployment panel. It is good to see that there has been correspondence on that. It now looks like the Minister is still waiting for the TUI to engage with the other stakeholders. That is very important, especially at this time of year. Will the Minister engage with the unions on this proposal as a matter of urgency and try to get the TUI to engage with the other bodies?

The Minister mentioned that there are 75,000 teachers. We all recognise the wonderful work they do. They are being supported by the Department. The role they play is very important too. The feedback we are getting from the members is that just over 90% of them would be interested in a scheme like this. In response to the question of whether a guarantee of continued job permanency would be a requirement for a teacher to consider seeking relocation or redeployment, 94.4% of the respondents answered "Yes". There is an appetite there and we need to engage with the unions and ask them to speed up this issue.

A national relocation scheme for teachers is a proposal worth pursuing, but it requires careful consideration as it is a significant undertaking. There needs to be further collaborative work on this due to the complex nature of the education sector, with the many factors outlined in the Department's correspondence to be considered. The Department has not received an updated proposal in line with the response issued to the TUI in April 2024 and no proposal is currently being considered. It is essential that there is alignment between unions and management bodies in order to progress this proposal.

I thank the TUI officials for their work on this proposal. I encourage them to engage with other relevant stakeholders on the matter. The invitation from my Department for a detailed and comprehensive proposal for a teacher relocation scheme addressing the matters raised in the Department's previous responses remains in place.

Senator Boyhan is next but we will have to wait for a change of Minister. We are waiting for the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell.