Mr. Diarmaid de Paor:

Although I would not disagree with Ms Dolan and there is no effect on the quality of the teaching, there is an effect on the quality of the education. I am the only person on this side who is not a teacher but I am a parent and I value so much the relationship that my children in secondary school have with their teachers. I have nothing but admiration for the way teachers relate to their students and continuity and stability is terribly important in that.

If we go abroad, the following aspect is often seen as unique to Ireland. People may go on about it a bit but the extra-curricular commitment from teachers does not happen elsewhere in Europe. People are amazed by it. If a teacher wants to work with the football team but must work at Tesco because he or she does not have enough hours, the teacher cannot do that activity. One loses continuity and whereas the people are very committed, young teachers can be very idealistic. They see their profession as a vocation. We are doing as much as we can to disillusion them in the first five, six or seven years. By the time they get a foothold on a permanent job, they may have become cynical about the whole issue. It is a very dangerous road to go down to say we will milk them for a few years while they are enthusiastic. In a way, that is why people are getting away with it. The young teachers really want to teach. It is a dangerous path as a long-term benefit because these people will go from the teaching profession. It will be like it is in Britain, where the average time teaching is seven years. We do not want that and we must be very careful it does not happen here.