Mr O’Leary doubled down on the comments on Monday morning, repeating his claim that there are “too many” teachers in the Dáil. He said he was making a “serious” point about the need for more diversity and that there was a need for more business owners to become TDs.

It’s unclear what Fine Gael Longford-Westmeath candidate Peter Burke expected when he got Michael O’Leary to speak on his behalf at a function over the weekend. However, where the Ryanair boss goes, controversy usually follows and Fine Gael have found them trying to distance themselves from comments made about teachers.

This country is facing enormous challenges over the next decade, where the population is going to rise from five to six million people' - Michael O'Leary

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has defended comments he made about teachers, which sparked a row on the opening weekend of the Irish general election campaign. Politicians and teaching unions reacted angrily after he said he would not employ teachers to "get things done" and that the Dáil (lower house of Irish parliament) was "full" of them.