Mr. Michael Gillespie:

We do not have exact figures in that regard. We have been contacted by many people whose medical advisers have said they are at very high risk. That is why we sought an appeal process last week. The Minister responded to that. We hope they will work through that appeals process and we will have a clear picture of how many people are in the very high-risk category. Such people will be assigned to teach students who are also at very high risk at home.

One of the bigger problems, which I tried to mention earlier, is that there is a lack of teachers for certain subject areas at second level. Recruitment is proving very difficult. In a month's time, delayed retirements will hit the second level system. We will not have the teachers to replace those retiring. There will, therefore, be a massive shortage of teachers in the field and only a small number of teachers who are out of the field will be used to replace them. As a result of the number of teachers to be clearly identified as being at very high risk over the coming weeks and who will not be able to teach in their schools and the coming retirements, we believe there will be a chronic shortage of teachers in some second level schools. I agree with my colleagues in the INTO that it is more than likely that this problem will be worst in urban areas, especially Dublin.