Ms Deirdre O'Connor:

On behalf of the Irish National Teachers Organisation, I thank the joint committee for the opportunity to address this matter of deep concern to INTO for some years. I will address the shortage of substitute teachers and the broader issue of teacher supply. I am pleased to note the joint committee is approaching with an open mind the question of whether there is a crisis in substitution teaching. Our job is to convince members that this is a real problem in primary schools and we have presented clear evidence to support this view in our written submission.

To give a snapshot of the current position, INTO's "sub-search" facility shows that the number of schools seeking substitute teachers exceeds the number of qualified teachers available. For example, the facility showed today that 15 teachers are available for 50 jobs, comprising substitute posts, maternity leave positions and fixed-term posts until the end of the year. These figures refer only to regular absences as opposed to casual absences that arise when a teacher falls sick in a given week.

A survey of school principals by our colleagues in the Catholic Primary School Management Association, CPSMA, found that schools were experiencing difficulty in sourcing substitute teachers in the early part of the current school year and this difficulty persists. Every day, we speak to principals and teachers working in primary schools that are experiencing a real shortage of substitute teachers.

The issues of a reliable supply of substitute cover and proper regulation of teacher supply have been of great concern to the INTO for some time. Our submission details evidence of the problem, including testimony from primary school principals who have indicated how the shortage of substitute teachers impact their schools daily. Principals speak of dividing classes and using special education teachers to cover for teacher absences. The submission also refers to the moment when every primary school teacher's heart sinks as the classroom door opens at 9.15 a.m. and seven additional children arrive for the rest of the day carrying bags, coats and chairs. These approaches to covering for teacher absences are inadequate and unsustainable.

The wider issue of teacher supply is a complex one, which is addressed in the Striking the Balance report. A number of factors are contributing to the current substitute teacher shortage. We share the concerns expressed by Mr. Curtin regarding cuts in teachers' pay since 2011, particularly for new entrants. These cuts are having an impact on teachers who are taking the decision to move abroad to work. Accommodation costs are another factor. We have anecdotal evidence of teachers agreeing to move to Dublin to take up a vacancy caused by maternity leave and then deciding two or three days later to decline the post because they cannot secure accommodation.

On possible solutions, the Minister recently announced, as a short-term measure, a decision to remove the cap on the number of days a teacher on career break can substitute. While this is a welcome decision, a second proposed solution, involving the imposition by schools of restrictions on career breaks, addresses a non-existent problem. We do not have evidence that year-long posts in primary schools are not being filled. Posts of one year's duration are being filled and offer a valuable route to permanent positions for primary teachers through contracts of indefinite duration and-or the supplementary panel system.