By Robert Hannan, School of Education, University of Limerick 

Summary bullet points: 

• Post‑primary teachers returning from abroad often experience Ireland’s incremental credit system as inconsistent, opaque, and unfair, with outcomes feeling dependent on “who opens your envelope.” 

• Primary teachers can have more of their overseas experience recognised than post‑primary teachers, leading to visible disparities between colleagues who worked in the same international schools. 

• The lack of recognition has major financial and professional consequences, influencing teachers’ decisions about returning to Ireland and contributing to wider recruitment and retention challenges. 

There is a phrase that comes up repeatedly when post-primary teachers talk about incremental credit in Ireland: “it depends on who opens your envelope”. It is said half-jokingly, but the consistency with which it appears across interviews suggests something more serious. What should be a clear administrative process is often experienced as unpredictable, inconsistent, and, for many, fundamentally unfair. At a policy level, the distinction is relatively clear. Under Circular P10/01, primary teachers can have up to seven years of teaching experience outside the EU recognised for incremental credit, including time spent in private schools. Under Circular 0029/2007, post-primary teachers operate within a much more restrictive framework. While some non-EU teaching may be recognised, it is subject to tighter conditions, and notably, there is no equivalent provision for private second-level schools outside of the European Union.  

In practice, however, this difference is not experienced as a technical detail. It becomes something much more visible and personal.  

Cian*, reflecting on his own application process after returning from the UAE, describes a system that never felt entirely transparent. “It almost felt like luck,” he says, “like who opened your envelope determined the outcome.” Síofra* recounts similar experiences, pointing to colleagues with “identical experience, identical forms, identical schools” who nonetheless received different decisions. For her, the issue is not just confusion but instead, total inconsistency. “There is no consistency,” she notes, “and that is where the frustration really lies.” This sense of arbitrariness is sharpened by the everyday reality of teaching abroad. In many private international schools, particularly in the Middle East, institutions are organised as all-through schools, where primary and post-primary operate side by side. Teachers share the same buildings, leadership structures, inspection regimes, and often teach the same cohort of pupils as they progress through the school.  

And yet, when they return to Ireland, their experience is valued differently.  

Áine* captures this contrast directly: “you could be teaching in the exact same school, same building, same students even, and the primary teacher next door gets their years recognised and you don’t.” It is a simple observation, but one that highlights the immediacy of the disparity. This is not an abstract policy issue. It is something teachers see reflected in the careers of colleagues they worked alongside. Síofra frames the issue in terms of professional recognition. “You are working alongside primary colleagues in the same organisation, under the same inspection system, and they are rewarded for that experience while you are not.” Over time, this difference begins to feel less like a quirk of policy and more like a statement about what kinds of teaching experiences are valued and are considered to count.  

The financial consequences are substantial. Cian estimates that the lack of incremental credit currently costs him approximately €10,000 per year – or over the duration of a career, the cost of a house. Síofra points to the longer-term effects, noting that it shapes “your mortgage, your pension, your entire financial trajectory.” These are not marginal differences. They affect decisions about housing, family life, and long-term stability. Yet, as several teachers emphasise, the issue is not only financial. “It is not just about money,” Síofra argues, “it is about what your experience is worth.” That sense of being undervalued comes through strongly across interviews. Saorise, who returned after teaching abroad early in her career, reflects that her experience was “not valued in any meaningful way” within the Irish system. For teachers who have invested time and effort in developing their practice abroad, this lack of recognition can be difficult to reconcile.  

It also shapes behaviour in ways that extend beyond individual cases. Áine, currently planning her return to Ireland, notes that the policy is already influencing her decisions. “It definitely makes you think about coming home sooner, just to stop the gap getting bigger.” Rather than encouraging teachers to build extensive experience abroad and bring it back, the system can incentivise earlier returns or, in some cases, discourage return altogether. This has implications for the wider education system. Ireland continues to face challenges in recruiting and retaining teachers, particularly at post-primary level. Several interviewees draw a clear connection between incremental credit policy and these broader issues. “It definitely discourages people from coming back,” Darragh* says. Cian similarly suggests that more consistent recognition of overseas experience could support retention by allowing teachers to return without feeling that they are financially penalised.  

There is also growing awareness of an ongoing legal challenge to the Department of Education concerning the treatment of overseas service for post-primary teachers, which all interviewees addressed. While the details remain outside the scope of these interviews, its presence reflects the extent to which this issue has moved beyond informal dissatisfaction. For many teachers, it represents a recognition that their concerns are not isolated, but part of a wider structural problem. Ultimately, what emerges from these accounts is not just a critique of policy, but a reflection on how professional experience is valued and once more separated, like the pre/post-2011 appointment pay scales, thus creating another layer of remuneration division within the profession. Teaching has become increasingly global and Irish teachers are valued across the world. They work in diverse systems, gain varied experience, and bring those skills back home. The expectation, for many, is that this experience will be recognised in a fair and meaningful way.  

At present, for post-primary teachers, that expectation is not always met. When outcomes appear inconsistent, when colleagues in the same schools are treated differently, and when the process itself feels opaque, frustration is inevitable. The challenge for policymakers is not only to address the technical differences between circulars, but to consider how those differences are experienced on the ground, in staffrooms, in career decisions, and in the broader context of a system already under pressure to attract and retain top talent.  

*Indicates pseudonyms