Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, on RTÉ Radio 1, the case was made that there was a very significant shortage of teachers in the country. I ask that we have a debate on this issue with the Minister for Education. It seems the situation is desperate. One person came on the programme and said they were trying to find replacement teachers by text or through WhatsApp groups. That is inadequate in this time and age. A Department circular letter from a few years ago stated:

Boards of Management are obliged to recruit and employ fully qualified primary teachers for any vacancy in a school, regardless of the duration of the vacancy. Information regarding recognised qualifications can be obtained from the Primary Administration Section of the Department [...] Under no circumstances should a Board of Management engage an untrained person and commit to retaining that person for the full duration of a teacher’s absence on career break, maternity leave, parental leave etc. It should be noted that a post primary qualified teacher is not fully qualified for the purposes of appointment as a primary teacher. The procedures for the appointment of teachers as outlined in the Constitution of Boards & Rules of Procedures for Boards of Management of National Schools must be adhered to at all times.

That is obviously not in place at this point in time. It seems from yesterday's programme that anybody can stand in and take a class. I ask the Minister to look into the issue. There are a lot of highly qualified people throughout the country who are in the wrong job. Perhaps retraining could allow them to become teachers. They may well prosper in the teaching profession. There is an onus on the Department of Education to find replacement teachers. There are a lot of people out there who, as I have said, are highly educated and who could be retrained in a very short period of time if the Department of Education were to go down that route.