Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Many of those measures are for the longer term. The Minister will tell me it is the job of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage's, which it is but some of this problem to the fact that teachers cannot afford to rent or get a mortgage in or around Dublin, Cork or Galway, and a whole-of-government approach is required. Regarding what the Department of Education and the Minister can do, much of what she referred to was at primary level whereas some of the most profound issues are at post-primary level. There are schools in Dublin and surrounding areas that telling parents that they cannot offer certain subjects that they offered for years because they cannot get teachers. One thing that the Department can do is to release more positions so that teachers who work on a part-time basis can work full time and teachers who are not on a permanent contract can be given one. Is this something the Department is examining?

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