The Ryanair boss believes his comment regarding teachers in the Dáil was "perfectly correct". Michael O'Leary was speaking at Fine Gael candidate Peter Burke's weekend campaign event when he said he wouldn't employ teachers to "go out and get things done".
The comment has received backlash from politicians and teachers unions, who are calling on the businessman to take it back. ASTI's hitting out at Michael O'Leary's comments as being "ignorant and risible". The teaching union says the Ryanair CEO's remarks have been compounded by a "cheap and sycophantic" reaction by Fine Gael activists.
It says instead of insulting the teaching profession with baseless jibes, efforts to iron out the enormous challenges within the system would be more productive. Michael O'Leary is defending his view that there are too many teachers working as TDs: