Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)

When the Teaching Council came in first, I had been teaching for about 35 years. My fellow teachers and I got what I can only describe as a threatening letter, that unless we joined up to the Teaching Council with our €90 our salaries would be stopped. I did not think that was a very positive start to the work of the council. I have yet to meet a teacher, although maybe there are some, who says that the €90 fee represents good value, particularly at a time when teachers' pay is subject to cuts and levies. The previous Government put €5 million or €6 million into the council at that time but will that be recouped by the current Government?

The council is doing the job the Department of Education and Skills had been doing, so it has been reinventing the wheel. I cannot see any other word to describe the council except as a quango with another gravy-train of expenses for people attending council meetings.

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