Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 13 Jun 1991

Vol. 409 No. 8

Written Answers. - Substitute Teachers.

Proinsias De Rossa

Question:

70 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to reports from teachers and school managers of great difficulty in securing qualified substitute teachers; the number of untrained substitute teachers; the number of school days on which they taught in national schools for the months of March, April and May 1991, and the same periods in the years between 1987 and 1990; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Education (Mrs. O'Rourke)

The management authorities of national schools have informed me that they are experiencing some difficulties in obtaining the services of qualified substitute teachers.

As some claims for the payment of substitutes for May 1991 have not been submitted to the Department it is not possible to provide all the information in relation to 1991.

Untrained substitute teachers taught for 5,991 school days in March and April 1991.

The information requested in relation to the years 1988 to 1990 is outlined below.

Year (March to May)	Number of Untrained Days
1988	18,032
1989	9,325
1990	15,912

Information on the actual number of untrained teachers employed in the period is not available.

The total number of school days that substitute teachers served for in the 1988-89, 1989-90 school years and in the period September 1990 to April 1991 are 1988-89 — 157,886; 1989-90 — 170,039; 1990-91 — 128,482.

The provision in the 1991 Estimates for the employment of substitute teachers is £9.417 million.