Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. Perhaps he would expand on it. He said the Department has directed the managerial authorities of schools to recruit unemployed teachers ahead of retired ones.

Will the Minister indicate how successful this initiative has been? As stated, this matter could be tackled by means of a cohesive approach across the entire education system. I am sure those who work within that system would agree that we must give the best and fairest start to those commencing their careers. The Department, teachers' unions and managerial and patron bodies have a part to play.

The teachers to whom I refer are seeking fairness in the context of starting out on their careers in education. We must ask whether it is fair to take into the system each year the numbers that are currently being taken in for jobs that just do not exist. Effectively, are we just training these young teachers for export? I intend no criticism of what is happening in the context of the online course. The latter has been given recognition and such recognition cannot be withdrawn. However, there must be some mechanism whereby we can control the number of teachers entering the system because otherwise these individuals will be given completely false hope. The latter has been the position with regard to those graduating from the more traditional teacher training colleges in recent years.

I am interested in the Minister's response to these matters. We are trying, on a non-partisan basis across the House, to assist those who those who obtain excellent leaving certificate results - they are the best academic results achieved by people in that age group anywhere in Europe - who have decided to enter a profession in which there are difficulties and challenges and which does not necessarily offer levels of remuneration as high as those available elsewhere in the economy and who are trying to get into classrooms but who cannot even get probated. The Minister accepts the difficulties to which this matter gives rise for people. I would appreciate it if he could indicate how the managerial bodies have dealt with the request from his Department and comment on the oversupply of teachers in the system.

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