A father has said teachers “need to be looked after”, as work to rule gets underway. 

Some 70,000 teachers in Ireland are now only working their core hours, which means they are no longer supervising children before or after school. 

As a result, many parents are being forced to find additional childcare, to the dismay of some. 

On Lunchtime Live, Dara Kiernan said he has already planned his work schedule around a planned strike for 14th October so he can look after his six-year-old son. 

However, despite the inconvenience, he remains sympathetic to the plight of teachers. 

“I'm a customer experience consultant and I work with both private and public sector,” he explained. 

“Richard Branson said this best, ‘Look after your staff and they'll look after your customers.’

“And we want to ensure that our children continue to get the highest level of education in Ireland.

“We have to look after the teachers and it is such a thankless job with the teachers and they're wonderful.” 

Given the importance of recruiting and retaining the best teachers, Mr Kiernan feels strongly that “teachers need to be looked after”. 

“People who teach our children, the people who keep us safe, the people who save our lives in hospitals,” he said. 

“This is something that our tax money should be going on.”

The Government has said the concerns of teachers will be addressed in tomorrow’s budget.

Main image: A father helping his son with homework. Picture by: Alamy.com.