Mr. John Irwin:

It is a pleasure to be here on behalf of the Association of Community and Comprehensive Schools, ACCS, the management body which represent 96 post-primary schools across the country. The submission we made is quite dated at this stage because it would have been submitted a number of months ago. We welcome the initiatives which have been taken on board since such as the establishment of the teacher supply steering group by the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Richard Bruton. We also the work the Teaching Council has been doing in facilitating stakeholder meetings to identify difficulties in teacher supply and explore possible solutions. We are delighted to engage in this very significant work and will obviously continue to do so. However, over the course of the last year to 18 months, the most dominant issue raised by principals and management teams when we meet them which we do regularly at regional meetings across the country is teacher supply. The committee will note from our submission that schools have been experiencing difficulty in the past 12 months even in filling full-year regular part-time, RPT, contracts, while accessing qualified teachers in the relevant subject areas for casual substitutions is next nigh to impossible at this stage. It is very difficult.

The survey we conducted is consistent with others which have been carried out in identifying shortages in nearly all subject areas, but there are particular difficulties in areas such as home economics, modern foreign languages, mathematics and STEM subjects. It has been a concern this year that that shortage is beginning to spread into nearly all subject areas. The survey also highlights a significant fall in the number of applicants for positions advertised. On occasion it has been necessary to readvertise owing to a lack of any applicant. The obvious shortages are, for example, in the area of an Ghaeilge where 48% of positions in the past year required readvertising.

The figure for Spanish was 50% and the figure for mathematics was 15%. The number of qualified candidates applying for positions has fallen substantially. We acknowledge the work and the focus on targeting by the Department of Education and Skills under the Minister to address some of these issues since the submissions were made. That work is ongoing. We, as stakeholders, would also support that.

The problem now appears more pronounced in the east, or the further east one travels. There are obviously significant staff retention problems for schools in the Dublin area. There is the dynamic of higher living costs and the acute accommodation shortage. This, on occasion, has resulted in schools offering contracts that might be exited when an opportunity presents itself in a more affordable living space to candidates looking for positions.

I very much concur with what Ms Irwin said on the globalisation of the teaching market for graduates in Irish schools and Irish colleges. We can see that ourselves. In surveys carried out, it can be seen that there is an economic reason, with the introduction of the two year PME. While we understand the Teaching Council will say that this is predominantly to ensure and maintain standards, we would indicate that there could be an unintended consequence of reducing numbers applying and creating financial difficulty, particularly among those from less socially secure or socially disadvantaged backgrounds. The latter might not enter the profession, which in the long term is poor for the profession. There are many statistics that we have submitted that members can read and take on board.