Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I again wish to raise the issue of teacher supply across the country. School principals continue to voice their frustration at the time and effort required to find a substitute teacher for either a long-term or short-term absence. I was contacted by a school principal who has been in the job for many years. Throughout that service the school principal has fought consistently to ensure that a qualified teacher would stand before every classroom in schools throughout the country. That is the way it should be. Every child should be assured that there is a qualified teacher standing in front of the class. Now, however, the situation has become so bad that school principals are glad to see anybody with a semblance of qualification in teaching be a substitute teacher for a short-term or long-term absence. Principals tell us how much they dread getting a telephone call in the morning from a teacher who will be absent because of illness or for some other reason. That starts a process, which can take hours, of getting on the telephone to ring or text people or send WhatsApp messages in an effort to find somebody to cover for that period of absence.

The Minister for Education and Skills needs to get a grip on the situation. I ask the Deputy Leader to invite the Minister to the House early in the new year to advise us on what plan of action he has to tackle the lack of teachers in the country. It is deeply frustrating for the nation that when we educate our young people to be teachers, nurses or doctors we then watch them go to the airports to leave the country with those qualifications. It is an issue the country must resolve.