Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. I was a post-primary teacher for 20 years and am a former member of the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland, ASTI. In my experience as a teacher I have worked side by side in the classroom with teachers who received unequal pay for the work they did. That was not right. It will remain an uphill battle for Government to recruit or retain teachers when that fundamental injustice is being done to young teachers.

The entire teaching profession has been devalued in recent years. Where we were once a nation proud of our education system, we are now educating children to force them to emigrate. Why would they want to teach in those conditions? Why would anyone want to teach side by side with someone like me who has been there for 20 years and get treated differently? New teachers come in full of new ideas, new initiatives and energy, and willing to do all of the extracurricular activities and more because they are new. What is happening in our education system is appalling.

What are the witnesses' opinions on the Minister's brainwave to incentivise certain subjects, as reported in The Irish Times in early January of this year? That is further inequality within teaching when we are trying to address shortages of teachers due to inequality. What are the professional opinions of the witnesses on that? On the subject of retired teachers coming back into the classroom, are they Garda vetted? As a member of the Teaching Council, I was asked three years ago to get Garda vetted because I was not initially when I qualified. I had no problem doing that. It is what is done. Are the retired teachers Garda vetted? What safety is there for our children?

In respect of the post-primary oral exams, do we know if principals have been forced to say "no" to teachers looking for experience as an oral examiner? It helps a teacher to be an oral examiner. I would say it is crucial and every teacher should do it once to help their students prepare for the junior or leaving certificate. Have principals agreed to release teachers and are they just dreading that oral exam fortnight? Have students been surveyed on the impact of teacher shortages on them?

In regard to the whole-school evaluation in management, leadership and learning, WSE-MLL, perhaps we should be suggesting to the inspectors it is time they added to those questionnaires that go out to parents and students as well as the three-day intensive inspection of teaching practices. What impact do teacher shortages and the lack of supply have on the education of students and what impact is it having on schools? Maybe that is a question that should be on the whole-school evaluation if we are going to be talking about quality education.

If we gave feedback to the Minister it might make him act on it.

Should a different salary scale apply in Dublin and possibly other cities? I know many recently qualified teachers in both primary and secondary schools. They have completed their first year and have got a permanent job in year two. They are saying, "That's it. I'm out of here because I have no quality of life. I'll have to leave my permanent job." The decision is whether to leave the country or to go to a different part of the country, but they have to throw away a permanent job. Should something be done there? I would be interested to hear the witnesses' different opinions on that.