The teacher recruitment crisis is “getting worse and worse”, a leading teachers’ union has claimed. 

With just a few weeks to go before the new school year, many schools are struggling to find enough qualified teachers to fill vacancies.

Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, ASTI General Secretary Kieran Christie said recruitment had been an issue for some time.

“Yesterday, at lunchtime there were 416 unfilled post-primary teaching advertised on the education recruitment website EducationPosts.ie,” he said.

“The recruitment and retention crisis pre-dated this minister somewhat - around 2017/18 it started to come onto the horizon.

“But it’s just getting worse and worse.”

A lesson on the Aran Islands.

Mr Christie said the Education Minister Norma Foley had introduced a number of “minimalist” measures - such as funding for more college places.

One issue he said was constantly raised is the need to offer “viable, permanent posts” in order to attract back Irish teachers who are currently working abroad.

“In teaching, you have to wait two to three, maybe four years on some occasions to get any level of permanency,” he said.

“Now try walking into your local bank and asking for any level of credit towards accommodation or a mortgage or whatever.

“[With] that level of prospects, you’ve no chance.”

Another issue is housing, with many principals saying the high cost of living puts teachers off from applying to jobs in certain areas.

The Labour Party has called for the introduction of an allowance for key workers who work in Dublin and Mr Christie said it is an idea worth considering.

“We have called for at least exploration of the kind of projects that operate in some other countries whereby key workers - not just teachers [but also] Gardaí and nurses,” he said.

“There are projects in some other countries whereby there would be ring fenced affordable housing for them in rent pressure areas.”

In a statement to Newstalk, the Department of Education said:

"The number of teachers available to teach, and the number of teaching posts funded has increased in the course of the last five school years (2018/19 to 2022/23).

"The number of teaching posts allocated to primary schools increased by 12% (4,471) during this period. At post-primary, the equivalent increase was 16% (4,524).

"Similarly, the number registered with the Teaching Council has increased by 22% (21,237) in the years 2017 - 2023... As the recruitment and appointment process is still ongoing, it is not possible at this stage to assess whether there has been an increase, or decrease, in relation to the total number of teachers who may be appointed for the 2023/24 school year."

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Main image: A teaching mark work by pupils. Picture by: Alamy.com