Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach basically gave me the same answer I got last week. I have asked a simple question. I come from Dundalk, County Louth, and have spoken to many teachers in recent weeks. I received numerous phone calls from people across the country last week in respect of this matter. People are going to college and paying massive amounts of money to be educated to become teachers. They want to teach in their own country but the number of full-time jobs up for grabs at the moment is practically zero. Only 13% of teachers are offered full-time jobs after they qualify. It can take two to six years to get a full-time job. In these years, teachers will be settling down and starting families. In the two or three months when they are off on their holidays, they do not get paid. They are looking for mortgages. I ask the Government please to help them out.

Many of these qualified teachers are going to other jobs. We see emigration at the moment, and we see the housing situation. At the Fine Gael Ard-Fheis last November, the Taoiseach promised to look after young people by helping them to get their own homes. These young people have put their hands in their pockets and are looking for jobs. It is a very simple situation. During the pandemic, they were offered full-time jobs but now it has gone back to the way it was previously. The Taoiseach and the Minister for the Education can help these young teachers with their contracts.

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