The Deputy is referring to the report of the Technical Working Group (TWG) which was set up by the Teaching Council to formulate advice on teacher supply. The Report focusses on the development of a model of primary teacher supply, while outlining the work which will be required to establish a model of post primary teacher supply. The report was submitted to my predecessor, Minister Jan O’Sullivan.
The aim of my Department’s policy is to achieve a balance between the supply of, and demand for, teachers. The Deputy will see from the Report that this is complex, particularly at post primary level, and it was important that the report was given careful consideration by officials of my Department and that suitable supporting actions were identified before publication. I intend to publish the TWG’s report shortly.
The report sets out an approach to planning which scopes out the work necessary to develop models for teacher supply in the medium to long term. It is of value in relation to building data models for predicting future requirements in the long term. However it does not address current issues.
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.
In that regard, officials in my Department have been giving consideration to the short term measures that might be implemented to increase the supply of teachers and, in conjunction with the publication of the report, I intend to outline these 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.
