Staffing in mainstream schools

Staffing in Mainstream Schools for 2011/12 as per Circular 19/2011

Introduction  Part I  Part II  Appendix B  Appendix C

1. Introduction

1.1 The purpose of this circular is to inform all primary schools of the following:

• The arrangements for filling teaching posts for the 2011/12 school year
• The commencement of redeployment and panel arrangements for teachers at primary level
• The staffing schedule for primary schools for the 2011/12 school year

The process of allocating teaching resources to schools for 2011/12 and the arrangements for filling vacant or new teaching positions takes place in the context of the Programme for National Recovery, the EU/IMF Programme of Support for Ireland and the Public Service Agreement 2010-2014.

In relation to the Programme for National Recovery and the EU/IMF Programme of Support for Ireland it is necessary for the Department to exercise additional control and reporting measures this year to ensure that the number of teachers employed in schools is consistent with those programmes. The Public Service Agreement 2010-2014 gives a commitment in relation to job security for public servants including primary teachers, contingent on the operation of redeployment arrangements. Consequently it is necessary for the Department to ensure this year that all permanent and fixed term positions are in the first instance made available to those permanent and CID holding teachers that are surplus and are to be redeployed. This means that until further notice no school can be given authority to commence recruitment until the Department is in a position to assess the number of these teachers, if any, that remain to be redeployed. There would be an increase in the overall number of primary teachers if as heretofore teachers could remain as a surplus in some schools while other schools recruited teachers and such a position is not sustainable in the current circumstances.

It is the intention of the Department to restore recruitment from fixed-term teachers on the main panels, supplementary panels or public advertisement at the earliest possible opportunity. This however is unlikely to occur before early May 2011 when information becomes available on the number of permanent and CID holding teachers that may still need to be redeployed and when following discussion with the relevant education partners arrangements have been devised that will enable the redeployment of any permanent and CID holding teachers still to be redeployed.

1.2 Main elements of this circular

The following are the main elements of this circular which take account of the requirement to afford priority to permanent and CID holding teachers in line with the Public Service Agreement 2010-2014:

a) A discrete subset of the main panel will be created for permanent and CID holding teachers in order to ensure that vacancies are offered in the first instance to these teachers. This prioritisation of permanent and CID holding teachers must be done in all cases unless there is a legal impediment to the filling of the vacancy in this manner (e.g. statutory entitlement to a CID).
b) Permanent and fixed term teaching vacancies can be filled only by permanent or CID holding teachers from the relevant main panel. Boards of Management are not permitted to commence a recruitment process to fill any teaching vacancy in any other manner until the Department is satisfied that vacant positions are not required for redeployment of any remaining permanent and CID holding teachers on a main panel. The timing of when teaching vacancies can be filled in any other manner will depend on how quickly permanent and CID holding teachers are redeployed into vacancies. The Department will publish weekly panel updates on its website which will inform schools of progress being made on the redeployment of permanent and CID holding teachers.
c) Fixed term vacancies must, in addition to permanent vacancies, be offered to permanent and CID holding teachers on the main panel. These vacancies must be notified by each school to its panel operator (diocesan secretary etc.) in accordance with the timeframes set out in Appendix C and section 3.3.
d) Schools that do not have access to their own panel must notify their vacancies (permanent and fixed term) to the Department. This will help the Department to plan in relation to the extent of possible options available for the redeployment of remaining permanent and CID holding teachers.
e) The Department is in discussion with the relevant education partners in relation to possible additional arrangements. For the present, redeployment arrangements will continue to operate within each school’s existing panel or where a Patron accepts an application from a teacher for inclusion on a panel. Subsequently it may be necessary to make changes to enable the redeployment of surplus permanent or CID holding teachers after the initial redeployment phase within existing panels. This necessity will be better assessed when the initial redeployment phase within existing panels has taken place and the number of residual permanent and CID holding teachers on the main panel can be fully quantified. A further circular will issue in due course if required.

Meanwhile, all teaching vacancies can be filled only by permanent or CID holding teachers from the relevant main panel.

f) The staffing schedule for the 2011/12 school year is set out at Appendix A of this Circular. This is the mechanism by which a school determines its mainstream staffing allocation. The staffing schedule is the same as the schedule that applied for the current school year except that Gaelscoileanna will, from 1 September 2011, have the same pupil thresholds as ordinary national schools for the appointment and retention of mainstream classroom teachers. Further information in relation to the operation of the staffing schedule is set out in Part II of this circular.

Last updated: July 2011