The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) has urged the Department of Education and Youth to introduce effective measures to retain those teachers who have recently commenced the profession within the Irish education system.
Ahead of the new school year, the TUI has said that the retention of teachers within the system is now as big a challenge as initial recruitment. The TUI has called for the teaching service of those returning from abroad to be fully recognised, along with the reinstatement of important allowances.
The union has said that teachers are being deflected from teaching by ever-increasing administrative duties.
Teachers need full jobs
‘At a time when schools are struggling to retain teaching staff, it is absolutely unacceptable that just 35% of recent entrants to second level teaching said that they received a contract of full hours when starting their teaching career,’ said TUI President Anthony Quinn today.
‘Therefore, it is hardly surprising that we are hearing anecdotally that many teachers are taking advantage of their transferrable skills to switch to employments or jurisdictions where they feel better valued.’
‘When schools struggle to retain teachers, students suffer with less access to the full breadth of subjects.’
‘This culture of contracts of less than full hours makes it extremely difficult for new staff to build a sustainable career, and it is simply not right that many have to be subsidised in these initial years by family, if of course they are fortunate enough to have this support. The provision of greater teaching allocations to schools would be of great assistance in tackling this huge problem.’
Administrative workload deflecting from teaching
‘Teachers want to teach, yet it is abundantly clear that they are being distracted from teaching and learning by increasing administrative workload. In a survey of our members earlier this year, 92% agreed that bureaucratic workload/paperwork that distracts from teaching has increased since they commenced their career. Separately, 92% agreed that ‘initiative overload’ is leading to burnout among teachers and principal teachers.’
‘Put simply, teachers have to spend too much time on non-teaching workload generated by constant new programme, policy and administrative demands.’
‘This culture of excessive paperwork has an obvious negative effect on teacher retention and must be urgently addressed.’
Pension inequality
'Reduced pension provision is also of real concern. According to a 2026 TUI survey of members who entered the profession in recent years, just 3% disagreed that the career average pension scheme which applies to those who entered the profession after 2013 is a further deterrent to their retention within the profession.’
Teachers returning from overseas must have service recognised
‘Second-level teachers returning to Ireland from positions in private schools outside the EU are placed on the first point of the teachers’ salary scale here despite the significant experience attained in teaching diverse curricula abroad. Given the nature of many international education systems, this affects the overwhelming majority of those who may wish to return to Ireland from countries such as Dubai.
'In many cases, they will simply choose to continue to teach outside Ireland or, if they do return, work in other employments where their transferrable skills are better appreciated. Ultimately, it is students who will lose out.'
‘These teachers must receive incremental credit for their relevant service.’
Reinstatement of important allowances
‘Allowances payable for SEN qualification, teaching through Irish and teaching on an island were all abolished in 2012 and have made recruitment and retention in these schools more difficult. It is critically important for these schools that these be reinstated.’
Note to editor: Survey findings in statement are from a 2026 online survey of TUI members (April 2026)