I have tried to explain to Deputies this question of the recognition of service abroad. Generally speaking up to last year we did not recognise service abroad because we did not have to attract teachers from abroad. We had a sufficient number of teachers of our own. An individual teacher teaching abroad might like to come home, but if he did come home, a post would not be created for him but he would take it from another man who would have to go away, so it was not really to the advantage of the country to recognise service abroad generally. An apparent advantage to an individual would be a disadvantage to another individual because we did not have an insufficiency of teachers.
Recognition of service in the countries mentioned by Deputy McQuillan was given at the request of missionaries in those countries, and the leaders of the emerging countries who wanted lay teachers to go there—lay teachers employed not here but elsewhere. To make it more attractive to those lay teachers to go to these emerging countries than to another country, I made the concession of allowing them a higher position on the incremental scale, when and if they returned to teach in Ireland. It was a concession with a purpose: the purpose of getting lay teachers to go to these emerging countries, not to give a motive to the priests, nuns and brothers who were already there, motivated by their missionary vocation to go to those countries. Again, if you look at it from the point of view of an individual, there seems to be discrimination and that is why I am glad of the opportunity of explaining that our motive was to attract lay teachers and not missionary teachers who were already attracted there.
The other areas which I recognised were certain European countries: France, Spain, Italy and Germany, and that was for our own advantage, to give us teachers with a proficiency in the languages of those countries. We give recognition to teaching service in a country where the language the teachers learn is the vernacular in order that we will have teachers proficient in those languages. The overall question of recognition of service anywhere and everywhere abroad raises an awful lot of difficulties. It is being examined, as I have told the House, but my first care must be what is best for the educational system here. I do not intend to let it lie. It is being examined and will be constantly examined.
Deputy Dillon's suggestion about native speakers of foreign languages being prepared to teach here might have some attraction, but native speakers of a language are not necessarily always the best teachers of the language. What I have done to date has been to get teachers and try to make them proficient in languages. As has already been announced, one of the biggest teaching bodies, the Christian Brothers, are making arrangements to have teachers trained in the teaching of languages. I may say that the whole question is being examined continuously. It is regarded as urgent and already some steps have been taken, but my mind is not closed to other suggestions.
There is a scarcity of science teachers in every country in the world. Science graduates are employed even before they get their degree. They are snapped up by industry and at the moment I am trying to work out some system of attracting science graduates to teaching. It is very difficult to compete financially with industry and, indeed, industry has other attractions as well. I am not in a position to make a statement at the moment as to what my intentions are, but I am trying to work out some way of attracting science graduates to teach here in Ireland.
Deputy P. O'Donnell mentioned the probationary year. I think he meant the first year of establishment of a school. A school is established about a year before it is inspected for recognition. Once it is recognised, the salaries are paid retrospectively, but we cannot pay money until a school has been examined and found suitable for recognition. The probationary period mentioned in the Supplementary Estimate is the first year's secondary teaching of a graduate with his H.D.E. In his first year, he is usually paid by the college alone. The salary has been found to be unattractive and inadequate. For that reason, and to attract people to stay at home and teach in the schools here, I brought in this payment of a grant during the probationary year. It is not the year of establishment of a school, but the first year of the teacher's teaching life.