Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

There is nothing in the Bill that prevents teachers from being included. That is the desire. I spoke with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on the issue and it was clearly stated that under the Interpretation Acts, a word in the singular also includes the plural unless it is stated that there is a clear contrary intention. If the Bill contained the phrase "a teacher and one teacher only", it would be confined to one teacher, but "teacher", according to the Interpretation Acts, includes the singular and the plural.

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