The government and Minister for Education is allowing teacher shortages to spiral out of control due to inaction, according to Social Democrats education spokesperson Jen Cummins.
Deputy Cummins said:
“The teacher recruitment and retention crisis has brought schools around the country to their knees – the government cannot sit on the sidelines while teachers and students struggle.
“75 schools have told the Teachers Union of Ireland that they advertised jobs within the past six months for which they received no applicants – this is indicative of the sheer gravity of this crisis.
“Around 60 schools said they had unfilled vacancies due to recruitment and retention difficulties, and 19 schools said they had been forced to drop subjects – no child should have their education restricted due to workforce constraints.
“These conditions are especially acute in special schools and special classes – we are in dire need of an increase in special education teachers.
“Despite this reality, the Department recently claimed during Committee that special education settings are not struggling due to staff shortages – this is categorically untrue.
“The teachers who are in post are shouldering burdens beyond their station, often handling work which should be done by two or three staff members – the implications of continued teacher burnout are far-reaching.
“Without intervention, the shortage of qualified teachers will worsen, the workload of remaining staff will intensify, and the quality of education delivered to pupils will inevitably suffer.
“I have been calling on the government to engage proactively with stakeholders to develop a sustainable response that matches the urgency of the crisis now being experienced in classrooms nationwide since I was elected in 2024, yet no solutions have been put forward by government.
“It is children in our most vulnerable educational settings that are left to pay the price for systemic teacher shortages, as well as our entire school communities – the Minister for Education must take action to tackle these shortages.”
March 4th, 2026