Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will address Deputy McLoughlin's questions first. He asked about the numbers of projected pensioners and additional retirees. There is an actuarial estimation of 703 in the primary sector and 450 in the secondary, community and comprehensive sector. The figure will increase over time. There will be resource challenges in the future and decisions will have to be made in that regard.

With regard to the Chairman's question about why teachers retire and why some retire young, some do not. Some do a specific number of years and then decide to stay on for one reason or another. There is a question around - let us call a spade a spade - the pressures of the job and the stresses that go with it. The committee has done a lot of work in terms of well-being and anxiety focused on pupils and students but it has also focused on the teachers. It is an all-school well-being model. There are extra pressures and demands. On the creative side, there is more flexibility, even within the junior certificate curriculum, to allow more bottom-up, locally-led projects empowering teachers and students to have more control over the curriculum. It is an addition. It is a changed world. It has changed since when I taught in 1993, 1994 and 1995. The classroom is not just a room of instruction any more. There are many aspects to it in terms of looking after and caring for students, motivation and dealing with wider issues, including family issues.

The Chairman also asked what we have done about pensions and she compared it with the Army. The Department has carried out a similar exercise as that carried out with the Army pensions. Conversations have gone on within the Department and with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. There have also been conversations at a cross-departmental level. The Chairman asked how confident we are that we will not be in the same position again next year looking for another Supplementary Estimate. I see the former Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, smiling. Perhaps she has been in the same position as me. The commitment I have been given is that because of the intense work that took place with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Department wants to get into a position where it is not under-calculating it.

I have just been handed a note that says €147 million in additional funding has been provided for superannuation costs in the education sector in 2019. It has been calculated with reference to actuarial forecasts and it will mitigate the need for Supplementary Estimates on pension costs in 2019. We are all working together in terms of the information we are being provided with. I am confident the information I have been provided with will ensure we are not back in this position in 2019.