asked the Minister for Education if he will state (a) the number of trained and qualified teachers who, according to the latest available return, are not employed in a permanent capacity in national schools; (b) how many unemployed teachers have been placed as a result of the recently introduced regulations, under the following headings: (1) to succeed women teachers compelled to retire at 60; (2) as additional assistants in large schools with 300 average or over; (3) in schools in which the majority of the staff have no Irish qualifications.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Unemployed Teachers.
(a) The number of trained and qualified teachers who, on 1st October, 1938 were not employed in a permanent capacity in national schools was: men, 372; women, 386: the latter including 65 women teachers serving as junior assistant mistresses.
(b) (1) It is not possible at present to give the number of unemployed teachers who have been appointed as a result of the recently introduced regulations to succeed women teachers compelled to retire at 60 as proposals for the filling of the resultant vacancies have not yet been received in a number of cases.
(2) The number of unemployed teachers who have been placed under the recently introduced regulations, as additional assistants in large schools with an average attendance of 300 units or over, is 13.
(3) As regards the appointment of additional teachers to schools in which progress in the teaching of Irish is retarded owing to the lack of qualifications in Irish of the existing staff, 40 schools have already been selected and correspondence is proceeding with the managers in regard to the new appointments. A further list of schools will be selected at an early date, bringing the total of such schools to 50.