Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I hear what the Minister is saying but that is going to ring hollow with many people who want to come and work as teachers here and who have qualified in England. My understanding is that some of the work currently ongoing is actually in regard to teachers who may go to the Middle East for a number of years before coming back, although that too is a welcome step. At the moment, we have an unparalleled recruitment and retention crisis in the education system that we need to get to grips with. There are 2,000 long-term vacancies in schools, as well as multiple short-term vacancies, and those are not my words but the words of the INTO general secretary, John Boyle. In 2023, a survey found that almost 80% of advertised teaching positions had no applications while 64% of schools still had unfilled vacancies. There is a solution to be found but we need to knuckle down, put a timeline on this and give those who want to come and work in Ireland as teachers a pathway to do so.

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