Averil Power (Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 35:

In page 8, after line 51, to insert the following:

(10) The Minister may from time to time prescribe the conditions attaching to the employment of an appropriately qualified and registered retired teacher, in circumstances where all efforts to secure an appropriately qualified registered teacher who is not retired fail.".

This relates to a proposed new restriction on the hiring of retired teachers by schools. I raised this issue when we discussed the legislation on Second Stage and there seems to be a particular problem in that despite the number of qualified young teachers who are unemployed, available and looking for work, schools are taking on retired teachers who have a full pension. As Members noted last week, this may arise because of convenience as it is easier to pick up the phone and call someone who used to work in the school or a friend of a teacher in a school. It is wrong, especially in the current environment, as this stops young, qualified teachers from gaining the experience they need to get a permanent job. It would be a positive step to insert this new requirement. Retired teachers can still be hired before anyone who is unqualified would get the job but a school should only resort to hiring a retired teacher if it has taken every possible step to secure a young, unemployed teacher for a position. I hope the Minister will adopt the same attitude that he took towards the last amendment.