The current Minister has many bridges to build, a task in which I hope the Minister of State will assist him. His predecessor has destroyed morale among many teachers. Why is it that so many people are rushing to get out of the profession and taking early retirement? The issue of supervision and substitution has been badly handled. The Minister must tackle it as a matter or urgency because it reflects on students at leaving certificate level. It is unfair that they must endure this burden. The €17 million spent in the last academic year was far greater than what it would have cost to pay the teachers involved if the Minister had wished to see the wood from the trees.