I welcome the Minister. I want to raise the issue of a post-primary school teacher voluntary relocation scheme.
This is something the Minister will be familiar with from her former work. I have been told by a lot of teachers that there is a need for a scheme like this. They feel that there is no way out of the situation they face. When a teacher becomes permanent or gets a contract of indefinite duration, it is a recognition of their experience and work. However, if for whatever reason they decide to move school or county, their choices are quite limited and in many cases they are expected to forgo their permanency should they be lucky enough to find a redeployment opportunity. Surely the establishment of a panel for voluntary relocation is possible. We already know that this kind of scheme works. The Civil Service mobility scheme was introduced for a simple reason, namely, to allow people move closer to home without losing their job security. It improved retention, reduced stress and made the system work better. Teachers deserve the same type of solution, namely, a solution like this.
Many teachers are travelling long distances every day of the week and large numbers say they would consider leaving the profession if that had to continue. I have a list of examples here. One is an example of a teacher teaching in Kilkenny while living in Limerick and travelling 15 hours a week and over 190 km a day. There is a teacher working in Kildare who is living in Laois and travelling two hours and 124 km per day. Another teacher working in Clare and living in Galway is travelling two and a half hours and 160 km per day.
It is not about convenience for these guys. Rather, it is about people being pushed to the point where they cannot keep doing their jobs. If we want to keep teachers, we need to resolve this problem.
Teachers have told us that, if they want to move closer to home, they often have to give up the permanency of their jobs. One teacher told me that they had spent 20 years living and working in Galway, but due to family issues, they may have to move to County Offaly. They feel that it is unfair that they could lose the permanency of their role. This scheme would fix a problem like that by allowing movement without losing permanency.
This affects all people, not just teachers. Long commutes are impacting childcare, family life and overall well-being. People are delaying families. They are struggling with care responsibilities or leaving their jobs altogether. It is a human issue and this is a practical response. There is a related environmental issue, in that the long journeys mean higher emissions. We are also putting additional costs on people, given the current cost of fuel. This solution would resolve an issue like that.
This Commencement matter is about solving a problem that we already understand. We do not want to lose experienced teachers. We are putting unnecessary pressure on these teachers, but there is a clear, workable solution to this. We have already accepted this approach in the Civil Service. Surely now is the time to introduce a similar approach for post-primary school teachers.
