Survey reveals there are currently over 800 teaching vacancies across the country

Taoiseach says Government is working to lure more people into the profession through a forthcoming pay deal and the construction of thousands of affordable homes

Leo Varadkar said negotiations will begin in the next couple of weeks with public sector unions around the next round of pay increases, which will support teachers.

Hundreds of teaching vacancies should be seen against a "backdrop" of increased teaching posts being rolled out and the lowest pupil teacher ratio ever, the Taoiseach has said.

Leo Varadkar has said the Government is working to lure more people into teaching through a forthcoming pay deal and the construction of thousands of affordable homes.

It comes as a survey carried out by the Irish National Teachers’ Organization (INTO), revealed that there are currently over 800 teaching vacancies across the country.

Schools that took part also predicted an additional 1,202 long-term vacancies within the next three months.

Hitting out at a lack of action from the Government, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said: "The teaching union is telling us very directly that this is related to housing, to the fact that a teacher's cannot afford to rent or buy a home close to where they work."

Mr Varadkar said negotiations will begin in the next couple of weeks with public sector unions around the next round of pay increases, which will support teachers.

He said the Government is making "real progress" in relation to delivering homes with 30,000 units expected to be built this year.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Éoin Ó Broin only a radical change of direction can address the deepening housing crisis.

“Fine Gael have been in Government for 12 years, and Fianna Fáil have been propping them up for seven. During all of that time, the housing crisis has gone from bad to worse.

“Both parties have been in a formal coalition for three and a half years. During that time, house prices have increased by 28%, costing the average buyer €70,000 more. New rents have gone up 25%, costing almost €4000 more per year," he said.

Mr Ó Broin said his party would instead focus on increasing investment on a multi-year in new building technologies to deliver more houses at scale.

Pressed by reporters on his party's stance on Israel, Mr Ó Broin also strongly denied suggestions that Ms McDonald had been forced to call for the expulsion of the ambassador by other Sinn Féin officials.

Sinn Féin had stopped short of this call and had advocated in favour of a ceasefire, before changing its position on Friday.

Mr Ó Broin said: "While we have the Oireachtas team here and Mary Lou is the leader of the party, we also have Assembly members, we also have an international department. As it happened it was a meeting of all of those people on that day. And they took the decision - and I think it’s the right decision, particularly given the deteriorating situation in Gaza - to move a step further and call for the withdrawal of diplomatic status.”

He insisted that the escalating violence in Gaza had led Sinn Féin to change it stance.

"The situation is getting worse. And we’re trying to exert the maximum level of pressure we think is applicable to get that ceasefire. For us, that’s the most important thing.”