Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There seems to be a problem with certain business studies teachers. As far as I know, a permanently employed business studies teacher can study a maths course that will bring him or her up to the required level. However, those not in permanent jobs face a difficulty. The retraining of business studies teachers offers a significant opportunity.

The Minister could easily offer a number of solutions. One would be for the Minister to advise students of the subjects for which there is a surplus of teachers. I will not name them on the floor of the Dáil because I would rather the Minister provide official statistics. Perhaps the Minister could encourage people to study maths or provide them with more opportunities to upskill in other subjects in order to improve balance. At the moment, the system is skewed.

Fundamentally, the Minister needs to in some way take control of the second level teacher education system because it is too open. The colleges have too much autonomy. The Minister is supposed to be setting national priorities for key subjects for the national education system and economy. The truth is that the Minister cannot stand over any particular targets on languages, maths, business or coding because he does not know what teachers will be available to teach those subjects.

See this speech in context