The failure of the state to address the needs of primary and special schools must be rectified by the next government, following the results of a survey carried out by the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), according to David Gardiner, Workers’ Party representative for Palmerstown-Fonthill.

Gardiner said: “A survey carried out by INTO, which over 1,300 schools responded to, shows that our schools expect a shortage of 2,767 teachers during the 2024/2025 school year. It also revealed that during the first two months of the school year, schools were forced to rely on 745 people who were not registered with the Teaching Council to fill short-term positions. This is a damning indictment of the failures of the previous government when it comes to education, and is something that the next government must work to rectify.”

“In special schools, 52% of respondents said that they had positions unfilled going into the year, while 59% of schools, including DEIS and Gaelscoileanna, reported the need for them to reallocate those trained in special education in order to cope with shortages in mainstream classes. For all of the money that the state has, and for all of the claims about how well things are going in the country according to certain politicians during the recent general election campaign, it is quite clear that this does not extend to our schools at present.”

“As a result of the survey, INTO is calling for an increase of at least 300 places in initial teacher education as something urgently needed and as an action that the government, once formed, can take immediately. Furthermore, they recognise that housing, cost-of-living and working conditions must all be addressed in order to retain the teaching workforce, and to ensure the delivery of primary and special education going forward. This is something that would benefit our schools, our teachers, our children and, by extension, the future of our country.”