Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is "unprecedented", "dire", "an exodus". These are some of the words used to describe the chronic teacher shortage, with new research showing 800 vacant primary teaching posts across the State. The situation is set to worsen, with vacancies expected to hit 1,200 in the near future. A staggering 66% of these vacancies are in the greater Dublin area and the impact is being felt disproportionately in poorer communities, with nearly half of disadvantaged schools reporting vacancies in permanent posts. The price is being paid by vulnerable children going far too long without the important supports they need. Many schools have been forced to redeploy special education teachers to mainstream classes.

The seeds of this problem were sown by the austerity cuts inflicted on teachers by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil over a decade ago. This latest research underscores that the ability of teachers to build a good life has been hit hard by the housing crisis. On the watch of this Government house prices remain sky-high and rip-off rents continue to soar. Here in Dublin, where the teacher shortage is most particularly acute, the average selling price of a typical semi-detached house hit more than €500,000 this year, while the average rent in Dublin tops €2,300 per month. This is off-the-wall stuff. This grim situation is reflected across the country. Teachers cannot afford to rent or buy a home near their work so they are voting with their feet and moving abroad to take advantage of opportunities they are denied at home. Thousands of teachers say the only way they can move out of their parents' home is to emigrate. As the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, took the stage at the Irish National Teachers Organisation, INTO, congress last April, delegates held signs aloft which read "Teachers can't afford the rent" and "Build affordable and social housing" but clearly the Government did not get the message. It continues to miss the inadequate targets it set for affordable and social housing, refuses to ban extortionate rent hikes and refuses to provide the level of investment needed to tackle the scale of this housing emergency.

Fine Gael has been in power for 12 years, backed to the hilt by Fianna Fáil for seven years, and the housing crisis has gone from bad to worse. Change is now needed more than ever. Tonight, Sinn Féin will bring before the Dáil its plan to fix the housing crisis by building genuinely affordable homes, cutting rents and banning rent increases. I am asking every Deputy to back this motion and give a generation locked out of affordable housing the chance it deserves.

Níl ann ach léiriú ar an bhfadhb maidir le ganntanas imníoch múinteoirí seo ar ghéarchéim tithíochta atá ag éirí níos measa i rith an ama. Tá múinteoirí ag dul ar imirce mar nach bhfuil siad in ann teach ar phraghas réasúnta a cheannach nó teach a fháil ar cíos gar dá n-obair. Caithfidh an Rialtas dul i ngleic leis an ngéarchéim ar an bpointe boise.

The dire shortage of teachers is down to a serious deterioration in the living standards of teachers, including, and especially, their inability to put an affordable roof over their heads.

What action will the Minister, Deputy Foley, take to address these teacher shortages? How will the Government address the housing needs of these teachers?

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