Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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150. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the shortage of substitute teachers for primary schools and the serious difficulties this is causing for school principals and managers throughout the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24959/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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In overall terms my Department does not have evidence of a recent or current general shortage of primary teachers, including for substitute positions.  However, I am aware that some schools are experiencing difficulty in recruiting substitute teachers, and I am committed to examining all possible means of addressing this issue.

The aim of my Department's policy is to achieve a balance between the supply of, and demand for, teachers. The Deputy will be aware of the report of the Technical Working Group (TWG) which was set up by the Teaching Council to formulate advice on teacher supply.

The TWG's report sets out an approach to planning which scopes out the work necessary to develop a model for teacher supply in the medium to long term. Officials in my Department have been giving further consideration to the short term measures that might be implemented to increase the supply of teachers and I intend to publish the report shortly and to confirm these short term measures, including the employment by schools of retired teachers and an increase in the number of days per school year that a teacher on career break may work as a substitute.