A school in Dublin has asked the grandparents of their students to rent out a room to a teacher, in order to ensure they do not have staffing issues in September.

Over the last number of years, schools across Ireland have reported staffing issues in their institutions.

On The Pat Kenny Show National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) chief Paul Crone said the decision to ask grandparents to provide accommodation for teachers is part of " what principals are having to do in this current crisis to get teachers for the students."

"I thought this was real creativity and innovation in action," he said.

Dublin-centric

Mr Crone said over the last number of years, staffing issues were "a universal problem" across Ireland.

"During June, I spent a lot of time going around to our regions and talking to principals, and it is refreshing to hear that the schools are starting to get more applications now for advertised vacancies," he said.

"It tends to be more in rural Ireland and the West of Ireland – they're getting, in one case, up to 40 applications for one teaching position, which was unheard of over the last number of years.

"When you reverse the bus and look at what's happening in Dublin, they have the opposite of that. They're getting very little applications if not none in many cases.

"Equally, some of the applications to the schools around the country are from established teachers in schools in Dublin that are looking to relocate.

"That is a worrying trend, and it's worrying for Dublin schools."

'Coming home'

Mr Crone said the flip-side of this debate is that Ireland is seeing a rise in the number of teachers returning back to Ireland from their posts abroad.

"Teachers are coming back from the UK, from the UAE and applying for jobs – they're looking to come home," he said.

"With the Turas Abhaile initiative going to help recruit those teachers, we might hopefully see more of that."

Mr Crone said he is encouraging these teachers, and newly-qualified teachers to "consider coming up to Dublin."

"You'll get far greater experience taking a class through for a whole year than waiting and living at home and doing a bit of substitute work," he said.

"What we're finding is that groups of newly-qualified teachers are coming together and they're renting a house or, as has happened in one case, the schools are putting out messages and they're finding the rooms for staff."

"When you have that experience and you want to move back to the country and a vacancy arises, you're in a better position to apply for that."