“Teaching vacancy crisis will define government’s legacy on education”: Nolan

All midland counties, including Offaly and Laois are set to witness an increase in expected vacancies in permanent teaching positions due to retirements or resignations by January 2025.

The news has been described by Independent TD Carol Nolan as a “the inevitable outcome to a long-term crisis that has been compounded by government neglect and a failure to take meaningful action on historic levels of teaching vacancies.”

Deputy Nolan was speaking following the release of a survey by The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), in conjunction with the Irish Primary Principals’ Network (IPPN) and the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA), highlighting an unprecedented level of vacant teaching posts in primary and special schools.

The survey findings further reveal that, for the second consecutive year, schools are struggling to fill permanent, fixed-term and long-term substitute teaching posts, leading to an overall current staffing shortage of 951 teachers.

Schools expected to have a further 1,816 vacancies by next January, indicating an overall shortage of 2,767 teachers for the majority of this school year.

“If you talk to any principal, as I do on a regular basis, you will find that one of the first issues they raise is the dire shortage of teachers and substitute staff, quickly followed by totally inadequate building capacity and inadequate capitation funding,” said Deputy Nolan.

“All of this is feeding into a real emergency in teacher supply that is deepening year on year.”

“The housing and accommodation crisis is also directly feeding into this problem. Last year I strongly urged the Minister for Education Norma Foley and the Department of Education to take immediate action on the teacher relocation scheme proposed by a working group established by the Teachers Union of Ireland.

“Since then, next to nothing has been done to advance this issue.

“Indeed, it is now clear that both the minister and the Department have failed to fully grasp the scale of the crisis that teachers and schools throughout Laois and Offaly and indeed throughout the country are facing.

“Crowded school buildings. Lack of funding. Lack of supports for special needs children. High cost of living. Inability to source affordable local housing. These are all key factors feeding the teacher shortage crisis and they are all a distinct and unwelcome legacy of this government,” concluded Deputy Nolan.