NEWLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS will be able to get permanent contracts sooner under new changes by the Department of Education aimed at addressing the staff shortage.

There have also been moves to allow eligible teachers who have qualified outside of Ireland to apply for registration for the Teaching Council and complete their induction requirement in Ireland.

Minister Helen McEntee said she is determined to address job security in the profession, “make teaching a more attractive, sustainable career”.

She confirmed that new teachers starting in September, will be offered a permanent teaching contract once they have taught for one year and successfully gained a teaching role for the following year.

Allowing newly qualified teachers who are starting in September to gain a permanent contract a year earlier will help teachers to “place their careers on a more stable footing much sooner than before,” the Department said.

The added certainty can also help when applying for a mortgage, it said.

For teachers who qualified abroad, McEntee offers a “common sense solution” that will simplify and speed up the process of working here.

Secondary school teachers have complained that many who spent time abroad lose out on thousands of euro because the Department does not recognise overseas teaching in various different settings.

The incremental credit payment is given to teachers in recognition of their ‘relevant’ years of teaching service. 

Currently, teachers returning from positions in private schools outside the EU are placed on the first point of the teachers’ salary scale here, regardless of having years of experience.

There are more than 78,000 qualified teachers employed in Ireland, with over 35,000 in post-primary schools – the largest number in the history of the state.

There has been a 20% increase in the number of student teachers graduating between 2018-2023, and a 30% rise in teachers registered with the Teaching Council since 2017.