Department not 'in denial' over teacher recruitment and retention, says senior official

The Oireachtas Education Committee heard that teacher numbers are now at a record high, with over 79,000 teachers employed across primary and post-primary schools as of March 2025. File picture: iStock

It is “unfair” to say that the Department of Education is “in denial” about the issues facing schools across the country when it comes to teacher recruitment and retention, a senior department official has said.

Addressing the Oireachtas Education Committee, assistant secretary Aoife Conduit said the Department of Education is listening to the challenges schools on the ground are facing and there is a "very complex picture" when it comes to recruitment and retention.

“Teacher numbers are now at a record high, with over 79,000 teachers employed across primary and post-primary schools as of March 2025,” she said. “More than 97% of allocated posts are filled, which is a strong indicator of system resilience.” 

However, it means a significant number of posts are unfilled across the country, and she acknowledged that recruitment and retention remains an issue.

“We’re not saying there’s not a problem or a challenge,” Ms Conduit said. “3% of over 80,000 posts is not insignificant.” 

Committee members such as Sinn Féin’s Darren O’Rourke, People Before Profit’s Ruth Coppinger and Social Democrat Jen Cummins pressed the department officials on concerns from unions and schools around the number of vacant posts.

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In August, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland accused the department of introducing “cosmetic measures” to address the crisis and that in many schools, students aren’t able to access the full range of subjects that should be available to them.

More recently, the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) general secretary John Boyle said the department “had the gall” to say the number of teaching graduates “continues to be sufficient”.

At the committee, Mr O’Rourke said there was a clear discrepancy between what the department and the unions are saying.

“I looked at the INTO, in black and white and bold, it said the department is in denial on this,” he said. “And I have to say, based on what I’m hearing from teachers and the representatives, it feels that is the case.” 

Recruitment

Ms Coppinger, meanwhile, said that in the figures provided by the department, 3.1% of primary school teacher allocations and 1.8% of secondary school allocations were unused, meaning that there was a vacancy for a teacher.

“But yet, the ASTI, which is the biggest secondary teachers union, has published data, saying that 75% of second-level schools have had no applications for vacancies,” she said.

“Half of secondary schools have unfilled vacancies, and 81% of principals admitted that they had to employ non-qualified teachers in different subjects.” 

Ms Conduit said their figures are based on administrative data on a national level of teachers’ payroll. She said significant supports such as financial bursaries for teachers, training in upskilling and competitive graduate salaries are being offered to support teachers.

“We have the second-highest retention rate in the teaching profession in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),” she added. “I think lots of teachers do enjoy their jobs actually and it is a fulfilling profession.”