Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 15:

In page 11, to delete lines 32 to 41, and in page 12, to delete lines 1 to 3 and substitute the following:“(b) shall refuse to renew the registration of the registered teacher where—

(i) the Council having notified a registered teacher in accordance with subsection (4A)(b), the registered teacher fails to comply with the notice within the time specified in that notice and the Council has not been in a position to determine if that registered teacher is a fit and proper person to have his or her registration renewed, or

(ii) the Council receives a vetting disclosure in respect of a registered teacher under this section and is not satisfied, in accordance with subsection (4D), that the registered teacher is a fit and proper person to have his or her registration renewed,

or

(c) may renew the registration of a registered teacher subject to such conditions (if any) as the Council considers appropriate and such conditions shall be complied with within such period as may be specified by the Council.”,”.

The purpose of this amendment is to clarify the wording of the provision in section 11 which provides for the council to refuse renewal of registration where a person has not complied with a vetting request or where the council, having sought a vetting disclosure for renewal of registration, is not satisfied that the person is a fit and proper person to have his or her registration renewed. The substituted provision involves some minor rewording to make clear that where the council refuses renewal of registration for non-compliance with a vetting requirement the council must have notified the teacher of that requirement for vetting in accordance with the notification requirement of the Bill.

The amendment also involves some re-wording of the provision to make clear that where the council refuses to renew registration on the basis that having received a vetting disclosure it is not satisfied that a person is a fit and proper person to have his or her registration renewed, the council must have reached that decision having considered that vetting disclosure in accordance with the Bill’s provisions for assessing vetting disclosures obtained for the purposes of renewal of registration. These involve providing the teacher with an opportunity to make submissions in respect of the vetting disclosure and also preclude the council from considering specified information contained in a disclosure where that information relates to conduct which occurred prior to the coming into operation of this section and where that conduct would not have constituted a criminal offence at the time it occurred. This amendment more clearly sets out the requirement for the council in respect of making a decision to refuse renewal of registration in the circumstances specified in the Bill. It also amends the Bill to provide that where the council renews a teacher’s registration subject to conditions a time limit may be set by the council within which such conditions are to be fulfilled. It is logical that there should be a timeline for conditions to be complied with but the time limit provision was absent from the published Bill.