Fianna Fáil: Bruton is 'sticking his head in the sand' over teacher shortage
The Education Minister is "sticking his head in the sand" over the teacher shortage in schools, according to Fianna Fáil.
The party said the system is suffering from shortages and urgent action is needed to address the problem.
It has emerged this week the number of teacher applicants has dropped by over 60% in the last five years.
Richard Bruton insists there are enough teachers being trained to meet demand.
However, Fianna Fail's Education Spokesperson Thomas Byrne does not agree.
"My message to the Minister is to actually realise there is a problem and take his head out of the sand," he said.
"The Minister stated publicly this week that there was no problem with teacher shortages in this country and that goes completely against the experience that teachers and principals have across the country. They can't get substitutes," he added.
"We're told the Irish language is in danger now because of the lack of Irish teachers coming forward. A huge amount of Irish teachers are abroad now too so there's a major problem with teacher numbers at the moment."
