91. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she is aware that taking a teacher away from a school (details supplied) will result in a 50% increase in class sizes from 22 students to 33 students; if she is aware of concerns of parents about the ensuing detrimental impacts on the education and well-being of their children; if she is aware of the impact this will have on autistic students; i…
Topics / School Staff
A subject heading for parliamentary questionsSchool Staff
914 questions from 127 TDs, between 22 January 2025 and 22 October 2026.
914
questions
909 written, 5 oral
127
TDs have asked
11
parties and groups
Independents counted together
3
departments asked
Questions per month
The record holds no questions for August, when the Dáil does not sit.
Jan 2025Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions |
|---|---|
| January 2025 | 17 |
| February 2025 | 24 |
| March 2025 | 23 |
| April 2025 | 58 |
| May 2025 | 52 |
| June 2025 | 63 |
| July 2025 | 55 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 54 |
| October 2025 | 18 |
| November 2025 | 61 |
| December 2025 | 51 |
| January 2026 | 45 |
| February 2026 | 65 |
| March 2026 | 37 |
| April 2026 | 40 |
| May 2026 | 54 |
| June 2026 | 71 |
| July 2026 | 34 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 63 |
| October 2026 | 29 |
Who asks, by party
The party each TD belonged to on the day, in alphabetical order. Parties differ a lot in size, and members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them, so this shows who raised it, not how much a party cares about it.
The TDs who asked most
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them. Each question counts once.
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70
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55
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41
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23
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22
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21
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18
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17
Asked of
Debated under the same heading
Debates whose official heading is exactly these words.
The questions
115. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Education and Youth the measures being taken to support schools to recruit and retain teachers, particularly in rural areas, and to facilitate teachers who wish to transfer to their home counties, including County Galway. [74924/26]
118. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Education and Youth the steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of pupils in mainstream classes of more than 30 given the impact of these class sizes on pupils’ learning and the ability of teachers to meet individual needs. [74056/26]
119. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the Programme for Government commitment regarding the teacher to pupil ratio target of 19:1; and if schools in Dublin mid-west who lost a teacher from their allocation for this school year (details supplied), resulting in split classes, will regain the teaching posts for the next school year. [74900/26]
130. Deputy Keira Keogh asked the Minister for Education and Youth her assessment of teacher recruitment and retention challenges in rural schools in Mayo; whether additional supports are being considered for schools experiencing staffing shortages; and ask that she make a statement on the matter. [74934/26]
267. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Education and Youth if her Department will review the decision to remove a mainstream teaching post from a school (details supplied) from 31 October 2026, which would result in a class of 35 pupils, many of whom have additional educational needs; and if she will consider retaining the teaching post given the class size and level of support required. [75099/26]
58. Deputy Brian Brennan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the reason incremental credit has been refused to a person (details supplied); and if officials from her Department can meet with the applicant to resolve the issue. [74654/26]
83. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will review the circumstances of a staffing appeal submitted by a school (details supplied); and if consideration will be given to retaining the teaching post concerned for the remainder of the 2026/2027 academic year. [74887/26]
489. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Education and Youth if her attention has been drawn to issues regarding the transparency of recruitment and interview processes for primary school teaching positions; and if her Department has carried out work to increase transparency in the recruitment process for primary school teachers. [73881/26]
497. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether any discretionary mechanism exists whereby a school that does not fall within the current staffing appeal criteria may seek a review of a teacher allocation decision based on exceptional circumstances, including serving families residing in an IPAS accommodation centre and a women's refuge, experiencing sustained enrolment growth, an…
498. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Education and Youth if consideration will be given to the level of additional educational needs within a school (details supplied) when determining its staffing allocation. [74491/26]
500. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Education and Youth the measures that are in place to ensure that teacher allocation decisions adequately take account of schools located in rapidly expanding communities with significant levels of new housing development; and if enrolment growth occurring immediately after the annual staffing cut-off date can be considered as part of staffing reviews. [74490/2…
501. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will urgently review the decision to reduce the mainstream teaching allocation of a school (details supplied). [74489/26]
505. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will clarify the eligibility and timeline for access to the next primary supplementary redeployment panel for a teacher (details supplied) whose contract concluded at the end of August; the review mechanisms available when panel options exceed reasonable commuting distances; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [74013/26]
275. Deputy Johnny Guirke asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of full-time permanent teaching posts are unfilled in primary and secondary schools across the state, broken down by county, in tabular form. [71469/26]
282. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Education and Youth to advise when a teacher (details supplied) will receive payment for teaching hours. [71508/26]
283. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will intervene to ensure that sufficient staff are provided for a special school (details supplied) to resume operating a full school week; when the necessary staff will be provided; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71481/26]
289. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education and Youth further to Parliamentary Question 68932/26, to outline the actual ratio of teachers, special needs assistants, and therapeutic staff currently employed per special school and special class. [71563/26]
315. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth to confirm an appeal regarding teacher allocation has been received from a school (details supplied); if the points outlined in the appeal will be comprehensively considered, taking into account the school's previous enrollment; and the unique experience of the school. [71675/26]
330. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of special needs assistants in post at the end of 2025 and at the latest date in 2026; and the way that the budget 2027 provision of 2,339 additional SNAs, bringing the total to 28,000, reconciles with the budget 2026 figure of almost 24,900. [71855/26]
192. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will clarify the circumstances surrounding the proposed withdrawal of a projected enrolment teaching post from a school (details supplied) on 23 October 2026; the reason the school is required to have 272 pupils enrolled to retain its 11th mainstream teaching post for the 2026-2027 school year, when the corresponding enrolment threshold for 20…
209. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of teachers on the primary school main panel in County Kerry at the commencement of the 2026-2027 school year; the number of permanent vacancies available to those teachers (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [69977/26]
232. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education and Youth further to Parliamentary Question No. 68915/26 the reason a school (details supplied) does not yet have a school principal. [70196/26]
241. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Education and Youth the measures her Department is taking to ensure that qualified teachers returning to Ireland after gaining teaching experience abroad are not financially disadvantaged where their previous service is not recognised for incremental salary purposes; whether the impact of the current incremental credit arrangements on teacher recruitment and retention h…
251. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Education and Youth the annual cost of fuel and travel expenses for travelling special education teachers (SETs) required to work across multiple school settings. [70388/26]