The Taoiseach is insisting there’s “money on the table” to resolve the teachers dispute.

Around 500 secondary schools are shut today as members of the ASTI continue strike action in the row over pay for newly qualified teachers.

Most of those schools will remain closed tomorrow because of the dispute over supervision and substitution.

Opposition parties accused Enda Kenny in the Dáil of not dealing with this issue early enough: “I don’t accept that the Government, Ministers and the Cabinet were lax here in not dealing with this, this has dragged on for some time with its results of the one hour not being worked from a unilateral decision, made by the ASTI union.

“And that has affected their own members to their detriment now and there is money on the table to pay them.

“This is an issue, this particular issue is one that could be solved very quickly.”