Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

Does the Minister of State accept that the answer he read contradicts a previous answer offered by the Minister of State, Deputy Mary White? One side of the Department is extending the period where unqualified teachers can be hired at the discretion of a principal or board of management, while at the same time the window of opportunity for young, newly qualified teachers to get the necessary hours for full recognition is being squeezed from five years to three years. That makes it more difficult at a time of a surplus of qualified graduates for them to gain the necessary hours to be fully qualified while leaving open a back door that will enable principals to continue to hire unqualified teachers nine years after the introduction of the Act. This is the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing in Marlborough Street.

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