Mr. John Curtis:

It is a complex question and something we are all wrestling with because we certainly have issues around teacher supply in some subject areas. The Deputy mentioned Irish and it also affects home economics, physics, maths and guidance, and there are issues in that regard. We are hoping it is a temporary blip because, fundamentally, we all believe in just how rich a profession it is. As I said, we are blessed with the teaching cohort that we have in the country. There are plans in place and I know the Department is doing substantial work on trying to improve the issue of teacher supply.

It is causing difficulty for us. We will have more courses, such as the ones referenced by the Deputy, whereby people might upskill from one subject into another subject, such as Irish, and there have been successful examples of that in regard to maths as well. There are a few challenges there for us but work is ongoing. I know the Department is going to engage in a survey of all schools very shortly to try to determine where the shortages are. It is incumbent on us all to applaud the profession and the professionals we have, and to try to enlist people to work and engage with our schools. One of the pluses of our system that has not been spoken about here, and which is something we need to watch and protect, is the voluntarism that is in play in schools among teachers, in that so much that is given in our schools is given freely and without pay.

There are issues in respect of supply in a number of subject areas. We hope we will be able to address that. Fundamentally, all of us have to try to support teaching as a profession. It is a marvellous profession, a marvellous vocation, and we are blessed with the people we have engaged in it.