Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach. I join with Senator Lombard in paying tribute and in remembering the late Seán Hales. I commend Senator Lombard and the committee which has produced a wonderful booklet for next Sunday. It is fitting, as we celebrate and remember yesterday and today, that in the words of John L. O'Sullivan, Seán Hales was "a truly great man". He had no wish to annihilate anybody. He was a man of peace and was doing the job that he was asked to and wanted to do, with the least loss of life on both sides. That sums up the man and I commend Senator Lombard on the work he has done and is doing in this very fitting commemoration. As we said yesterday we are in a decade of centenaries and it is important that we bring all sides together and that we remember that we are a nation that owes our debt of gratitude to the men and women on all sides, because our democracy has held for a century. This is a democracy which we now take as being normal but in other countries of the world, it is not.

I ask that the Minister for Education comes to the House in the context of the shortage of teachers, especially in light of the memorandum to Government yesterday on the issue of career breaks and their proposed suspension.I ask the Minister to especially discuss with the House the issue of the supplementary panel at primary level. I am of the belief that the supplementary panel is a barrier to the retention and recruitment of teachers and to the movement and flow of teachers. There is a different element and flow to it in each diocese, which is something we should consider. There is also the issue of the posts. If a permanent teacher resigns or is recruited elsewhere, that post is a temporary post for the remainder of the year, which is again a barrier to people being recruited.

Finally, I ask the Minister for Defence to come to the House to discuss the annual general meeting of the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, RACO, last week in which we heard from its general secretary that there is an "existential crisis" in the Defence Forces. We could perhaps have a debate on the Defence Forces in due course. It is important that we have that debate as a matter of urgency.