Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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That is useful. There can often be one-way traffic when we are discussing the Croke Park agreement. It is healthy at the outset to list some of the examples of change management in the sector in these difficult times. It is important to acknowledge this.

Let me return to the issue of supervision and retired teachers re-entering the classroom. This is a bugbear of the taxpayer and every new young teacher. What is the official position of the Department on supervision? I understand that if a teacher rings a school principal at 8.55 a.m. to say he or she will be out for a day owing to sickness, the principal is obliged to find a teacher quickly. In this instance, there is a little more justification for ringing a former teacher down the road, although I do not accept it. What are the actual criteria of the Department and what does the circular state?