Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Browne for sharing time. I welcome the opportunity to make a brief contribution to the debate on the Education (Amendment) Bill 2010. The first sentence in the memorandum states that the VEC will get additional powers in the Bill, which I welcome. This is a model of patronage for schools at primary level and its introduction is to be welcomed. Patronage has been debated for many years and I have always wondered about the role of the VECs in this area. It is clearly a very local patronage and to have involvement with the VEC in any county is important. I have often felt that we should deal with local vocational education committees in the primary school system rather than continuously dealing with officials in Tullamore with regard to buildings, Athlone for teaching positions or the Department of Education and Skills on Marlborough Street. This is a welcome development.

Patronage is not the only issue arising for boards of management. As somebody with experience on the board of management in my local school of Castleblakeney, I would say many other issues arise regarding the upkeep of a school. We welcome that there has been much money spent in refurbishing schools and carrying out extensions. Deputy Connaughton and I would advocate new schools in places like Aughrim and Cahergal near Tuam, and that would be a major concern for boards of management in schools alongside the patronage issue.

It is interesting that religious orders were not always the patrons of schools and chairpersons of boards of management. Many lay persons through the years have been equally as good as local parish priests or the curate, who would normally be chairpersons of the boards of management in schools.

An interesting question arises with regard to school inspections. It is my understanding that the school inspection is a very important part of primary school involvement, with an inspection involving an inspector being in a school for a full week, perhaps, rather than a single day, as has been the case in the past. It would involve an inspector meeting the board of management before an inspection and after the week's work. I wonder how the VEC would work in such a role, taking into account whether the entire committee would be involved or a small section, or if it would be involved at all in the inspection.

Many issues have raised the concern about young teachers looking for teaching positions. Given that this Government has committed to 500 extra primary teachers over two years, it is an interesting question that should be teased out. There cannot be a chicken and egg scenario where a young teacher is told that if he or she has no experience, he or she cannot have a job. Teachers must start somewhere but in many cases schools seek teachers with experience. Where will teachers gain experience if they cannot get even temporary teaching work in the schools?

The Department of Education and Skills decides at primary level how many teachers to have in the primary system. Somebody going to a teacher training college is looking to qualify, although we also have the Hibernia College system, which is an excellent course and a good way to train to be a teacher. It is very different at secondary level, as people do a primary degree and if somebody does a bachelor of arts or a bachelor of commerce, we do not know if they will proceed to teaching as there are other opportunities in journalism, commerce and business. We cannot estimate the number of people who will look for jobs at secondary level as a result. The numbers at primary level are clearer. People have mentioned teachers who retired in recent years but the vacancies still do not exist for the young teachers from the teacher training colleges.

I am a member of the INTO so I declare an interest in the following issue. That union has raised the matter of unregistered teachers who work in exceptional and limited circumstances. Those in the teaching profession have asked if this would happen in any other profession, such as the legal or medical spheres, and I hope the Minister will reply to that query. I remember some years ago it was difficult to get teachers to go to islands, for example, and it was sometimes difficult to get teachers in disadvantaged areas or the Gaeltacht. There was a suggestion that extra pay or a bonus could be given to teachers in those cases. I can see how the Minister refers to exceptional and limited circumstances but from the teaching and union perspective, the view is different.

There are issues relating to speech therapy. One of the most interesting parts of the Bill concerns the miscellaneous amendments. Speech therapy services and other health and personal services will be transferred to the HSE as a result. This should be clarified as we, as public representatives, have been wondering where the contact point is for speech therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and the dental services mentioned by other speakers. It is important that these issues be clarified.

I mentioned the HSE and there was a question in the past about the abolition of health boards. We are now to reduce the number of VECs but there is concern that when the HSE was established, apart from some CEOs, nobody seemed to lose a job. More people were employed at the end of the day and questions on the same issue are now being asked about VECs. How will the savings referred to by the McCarthy report be achieved?

Before dealing with such matters, we should at least clarify that contact points exist for the health services, which are already very aligned to primary education. The health services operate in very close co-operation with teachers, with doctors or nurses visiting schools and a dental programme is in operation. It is very important that young children with health difficulties are identified at a very early stage, and it is important that the HSE and the Department work together.

I hope the Bill, although limited in its amendments, will allow us proceed to a wider type of patronage. There is certainly a very strong feeling among people that there should be more options and we are living in a different age than before. There are gaelscoileanna and Educate Together schools, along with multi-education units. We must also think about those who are often described as the "new Irish" and the provision of different language programmes for those who are newly arrived in the country. We must work closely with a view to improving services. The work we are doing in the Oireachtas, in tandem with the Department of Education and Skills, is important. It is vital that teachers are registered with the Teaching Council so that people are qualified to deal with these various issues. I hope the few questions I have raised will be taken on board by the Minister and she might be able to reply to them.

The VECs will be reduced from 33 to 16, which is even more than what was sought in the McCarthy report. People might envisage savings to be made in this but I am prepared to wait and see. In Galway, I worked closely with the county VEC for which I have high regard. Now that Galway county and city will have one committee, I hope public representatives, particularly, will still be represented on it.

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