Michael O’Leary has doubled down on his controversial comments about teachers in politics.

Speaking at a Fine Gael event in Mullingar at the weekend, the Ryanair boss said the Dáil is “full of teachers” – adding that he “wouldn’t generally employ a lot of teachers to go out and get things done”.

The Taoiseach later described the comments as ‘crass and ill-informed’ adding that he was “pretty annoyed” about the incident.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Mr O’Leary insisted that what he said was “perfectly correct”, adding that “the fewer teachers we have in the Dáil or in ministerial office, the better”.

He labelled the reaction to his comments a “pile-on” from teachers’ unions, Sinn Féin and “all the left-wing tree huggers”.

He claimed the reporting of his comments over the weekend was “slightly selective” – noting that he had also said that there is “nothing wrong with teachers” and that he “loves teachers”.

“I think what I said was perfectly correct,” he said.

“I love teachers. I think teachers do a great job, but I think there's too many teachers in the Dáil and we need more.

“Why can't we get more businesspeople to go into the Dáil? More computer engineers, more engineers?”

Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary in the Newstalk studio. Image: Newstalk

He said the country is facing “enormous challenges” over the next decade, with the population expected to rise from around five to six million people.

“We need lots of teachers delivering excellent education in the classroom but a Dáil where there is a striking surplus of teachers is not necessarily one that's going to get things done,” he said.

“I want to see more people enter the Dáil from private enterprise, from the private sector, and that's the energy we need if we're going to fix the infrastructure challenges we face and if we're going to provide housing and infrastructure for a population of six million people.

“I think teachers do a great job in the classroom but I am not sure that teachers in the Dáil are necessarily the best people to deliver the kind of change and enterprise we need.”

General Election

He rejected claims his comments have put Fine Gael on the back foot as the General Election campaign enters its first full week.

“I think a lot of people will agree with me and a lot of people will disagree with me,” he said.

“You know, it's only my opinion. I presented, I think, what is a serious issue and the need for more diversity in the Dáil in a jocular way but I would stand over the remarks.

“I think the more teachers we have in the classrooms of Ireland the better and the fewer teachers we have in the Dáil or in ministerial office, the better.”

Green Party

Mr O’Leary used the controversy to continue his attacks on the Green Party – noting that both the Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman and Tourism Minister Catherine Martin are former teachers.

“I am struck, always, at why the most overrepresented group in the Dáil all are teachers,” he said.

“They do a terrific job at the schools but not such a good job when they're frontline ministers.”

Dáil Éireann

The Ryanair boss said that the constitutional requirement for Ireland to have one TD for every 30,000 is “archaic” – and called for the number of TDs in the Dáil to be cut in half.

He said this would allow us to pay TDs higher wages and encourage more people from the private sector to consider a career in politics.

“Why don't we change the Constitution and let's have one TD for every 60,000 people in the age of social media and better communications,” he said.

“We could half the number of TDs in the Dáil and by the way, I would half the number of TDs in the Dáil but double their pay.

I think TDs should be paid twice what they're paid today, but there should be only half the number of TDs and then I think you would encourage more talent, more people, more businesspeople, more engineers and more computer scientists [into politics]”.

Mr O’Leary made his original comments at a campaign launch for Enterprise Minister Peter Burke.

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Main image is a file photo of Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary in the Newstalk studio. Image: Newstalk