It is very difficult to get rid of the "very small group" of teachers who should no longer be in the classroom, Minister for Education Mary Hanafin has acknowledged.
Commenting on remarks by former attorney general and EU commissioner Peter Sutherland, in which he claimed that deficient teachers in Ireland were "protected for life", Ms Hanafin said her department was working closely with the teacher unions to find a mechanism to remove teachers who "should not be there".
These discussions, which she said she wished to see resolved quickly, were taking place under the social partnership agreement Towards 2016 and the Programme for Government.