Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein)
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I should have thanked Ms McDonnell for her presentation. I apologise. I asked a question, which has not yet been answered, about the extent of casualisation. I wish to quote from an ASTI document that was laid before the committee in, I think, January. I was not a member of the committee at the time. It states, "Surveys of teachers who have emigrated have underlined the difficulties of finding full-time work as the major 'push'factor to leave Ireland and seek work elsewhere as a teacher." This strikes me as the elephant in the room. Clearly, we can drop the word "apparent" in this discussion. There is a shortage of teachers - we know that now - yet, at the same time, anyone graduating as a qualified teacher does not expect to get a full-time job. They can get one elsewhere. Is this not at the heart of the problem? Ms McDonnell talks about contracts of indefinite duration but, again, the ASTI indicates that they have not really fixed the problem. The ASTI quotes a RED C survey in which 34% of teachers were in permanent full-time posts. I know we cannot undo the past. There was a terrible short-termist view across both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments that employment in these sectors should just be casualised to save costs. Surely now, though, given the shortage of teachers that is apparent and absolutely clear, graduates qualifying should be able to win full-time positions. Surely, until we achieve that, we will not fix the crisis, and it is not unfair to use the word "crisis".

I wish to raise another issue the ASTI raises in the document, namely, the cost of the professional masters of education. The ASTI quotes a cost of between €10,000 and €15,000. This seems to me to be prohibitive. Again, what plans does the Department have to address this?

Finally, I will reiterate what my colleagues have said. The issue of pay equality must be tackled. I do not think teachers will take us seriously until we do so.