Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. Anything that causes 40% of those working in a profession to consider early retirement is a major problem. Some 67% of the members of the teaching profession who have taken early retirement have done so as a result of stress and depression. If this problem was encountered on the same scale in the nursing, medical, dental or legal professions, or in the public or Civil Service, there would be a public inquiry and rightly so. Students can be quite ruthless in targeting people and they know when to twist the knife. That leaves teachers in a dangerous position. There are a number of reasons for this behaviour, such as the student's domestic situation. It can be a case of "monkey see, monkey do". Bullying at home can be transferred to a school setting, because the student thinks that is normal behaviour. Another problem arises when a condition remains undiagnosed, such as dyslexia or attention deficit disorder. This is where the National Educational Psychological Service comes into play. We must provide proper resources to psychological services so that they get the opportunity to tease out these difficulties. We must put support mechanisms in place for teachers, such as an early warning system, so that problems can be identified and reported as soon as possible. School management should have strategies and policies in place to support the teacher and nip the problem in the bud. It is a case of a stitch in time. We could call for more parental support, but in situations like these, many parents may only inflame the situation. Teacher training policies will have to address this problem.

We must take action to make the teaching career attractive once more. It was once an attractive career and we must try to get back to that.

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