The Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI), says some secondary schools are having to drop certain subjects due to a shortage of teachers.

The TUI says almost one in five schools have dropped subjects because they can't find staff. Maths, Construction Studies, Woodwork and Irish are the hardest subjects to find teachers for.

Some schools are also taking steps to limit the number of pupils it enrols because of staff shortages.

A survey carried out by the TUI in September and October found 64% of schools have teacher vacancies.

It also shows almost 8 in 10 schools which advertised a teaching job didn't receive a single application.

General Secretary of the TUI, Michael Gillespie, says students are now beginning to feel the impact of the recruitment crisis.

"We see that nearly 50% have also put limits on the number of students going in, and that's reflected of what we see in the subjects that they're struggling to get teachers for and that they're not filling vacancies for.

"So therefore, the students' choice and availability of subjects is suffering".

Mr Gillespie says the teacher shortage is getting worse.

"It's going to affect students all over the country and we've got to do something about it.

"I mean, only 1% of our school principals and deputy principals believe enough has been done to tackle the problem.

"We need to do something fairly major.

"We need to start getting our teachers home who are abroad, we know there are thousands of teachers in Dubai".