General Information 1
Catholic and Church of Ireland Diocesan Panels for Permanent Teachers
The panel regulations provide a system whereby an assistant teacher in a school, whose post has been suppressed due to insufficient enrolment, may be transferred to a post in another school. Continuity of service is maintained. The panel regulations resulted from an agreement in 1937 between the Catholic Bishops and the Irish National Teachers' Organisation. This agreement was incorporated subsequently into the Rules for National Schools and extended to cover teachers in schools under Protestant patronage. (There are separate panels for members of religious orders).
Arrangements regarding diocesan and other approved panels are outlined in Rule 97 of the Rules for National Schools.
In addition, the Department of Education issues an annual Circular outlining the particular arrangements for each year.
In summary the panel arrangements operate as follows:
1. The Department of Education and Skills identifies, on an annual basis, the posts in schools which will be suppressed at the end of the school year, due to declining enrolment. Where a post is to be suppressed, the teacher ranking lowest in seniority will be issued with a panel notice and invited to have her/his name placed on the appropriate diocesan panel.
A separate panel list is drawn up for each diocese. This list is normally compiled in the month of March each year. Boards of management seeking to fill the position of a permanent assistant teacher, arising from the following 1 September, must offer the position to one of the teachers on the panel. No open competition appointment to a permanent post in the relevant diocese will be sanctioned by the Department of Education and Skills until the panel is clear.
Teachers on the panel do not normally leave their current school during the course of a school year as they are part of the normal staffing complement of the school for that particular year. A teacher who is re-deployed from the panel takes up a position in her/his new school from the following 1 September or as soon after that date as they secure an alternative post.
Holders of posts of responsibility who are compulsorily re-deployed through the panel retain their allowances.
Once the panel list is issued, most boards of management who are aware that they have a permanent vacancy arising from the following 1 September immediately set about filling that position. However, a teacher is not required to accept an alternative post before a specified date each year, normally in the month of May. Neither is a board of management obliged to offer a vacancy to a teacher on the panel during that concessionary period. The Department of Education's annual circular regarding the panel specifies this date each year.
2. Unless the teacher is seeking an exemption on the grounds of maternity or is deferring her/his panel rights, a teacher is obliged to accept the first written offer of an alternative post within the diocese once the specified date has elapsed, provided that the alternative post is within a radius of 45 kilometres (28 miles) from the teacher's current school. A teacher must give notice of acceptance or rejection of a post within 7 days of it being offered to her/him in writing. Should a teacher refuse a written offer, after the specified date her/his name will be deleted from the panel list.
A board of management cannot assume that a teacher outside a radius of 28 miles will reject an offer from the board. The teacher has the option of refusing the post on the basis that the mileage is over 28 miles from her/his existing school but the board of management is still obliged to offer the teacher the post.
3. A teacher whose name is on a panel can defer her/his panel rights. This means that a teacher can postpone the date in which her/his name is placed on the panel. Teachers can defer their panel rights to take up a temporary position (of at least one year’s duration) in their own school, to go on a career break or to job-share.
A teacher who wishes to defer her/his panel rights should complete the panel application form but indicate to the board of management and the Department of Education and Skills that s/he wishes to defer her/his panel rights. The teacher's name will then appear on the next panel list issued once the period of deferment has elapsed.
4. A teacher may also claim an exemption to the panel regulations on the grounds of maternity. A teacher may be exempted from the panel for a period of six months prior to the birth of a baby and for a period of nine months subsequent to the birth of a baby. At the end of the exemption period the normal panel regulations apply. In these circumstances a teacher on the panel may be obliged to leave her current school during the course of the school year. For example, a teacher whose exemption expired in January would be obliged to accept the first written offer of an alternative post she receives after that date provided it was within the specified radius.
A teacher wishing to apply for an exemption on the grounds of maternity should complete the panel application form. She should indicate to her board of management and to the Department of Education and Scinece that she wishes to claim an exemption on grounds of maternity, and forward a medical certificate to the Department which should indicate the expected date of delivery of her baby. The teacher’s name will be included on the panel list but boards will not be obliged to make offers to the teacher, nor will the teacher be obliged to accept offers during the period of exemption. Claims for exemption should be made to the Department in writing.
5. Where a teacher is not re-deployed by the start of the new school year, s/he returns to her/his own school pending re-deployment. In these circumstances the teacher could be re-deployed at short notice, and this should be taken into consideration by the principal teacher when assigning duties to a teacher awaiting re-deployment.
6. When the post of an assistant teacher is suppressed in an amalgamated school, the most junior assistant is entitled to have her/his name placed on the addendum to the panel, provided that s/he was serving in one of the schools at the time of the amalgamation. The difference between the addendum to the panel and the main panel is that the teacher is only obliged to accept an offer of a post in a school within a 24 kilometres (15 mile radius) from her/his existing school. In addition the teacher continues to enjoy access to the addendum panel until they leave their new school voluntarily.
The panel arrangements guarantee continuity of employment to teachers in national schools and it is essential that they should be operated strictly in accordance with the rules. Teachers who receive panel application forms should complete and return same without delay. Teachers on the panel are expected to be contactable during the vacation periods so that offers can be made to them.