Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

While I am on the issue of teachers, the practice of appointing or retaining teachers on the basis of enrolment levels in the previous September has been followed for years. Has the Minister given consideration to it? As members are discussing North-South bodies today, does this happen in the North or in any other European country? Obviously, difficulties arise when enrolment increases in a school, but teachers are still being appointed or retained on the basis of old figures which obviously are out of date.

I refer to the panels which I gather are still based on the diocesan system. There appear to be many issues where people cannot transfer from one diocese to another. A person could live in one diocese while teaching in another and could find himself or herself, when on a panel, being obliged to travel long distances. While the panel system is good from the perspective of job security, it is not very good if one is obliged to travel very long distances to the next school.