Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the introduction of this legislation. We support the Bill overall, but there are a number of issues of concern in respect of which we will table amendments on Committee Stage.

There are several differences between this Bill and the one drafted by the Minister's predecessor, Ms Mary Coughlan. For example, the Minister will be given the power to make directions in terms of redeployment following consultation, not agreement, with educational partners. As the Minister stated, this provision concerns many of those partners. Through our and, I hope, the Minister's Committee Stage amendments, we want to ensure that a satisfactory resolution to the issue can be reached. While management bodies have some concerns that they will no longer have a veto on who is redeployed, the Bill does not affect their right to protect the ethos of their schools. This is an important and necessary matter.

We support the implementation of section 30 of the Teaching Council Act but we are concerned about the Bill's provisions on allowing schools to hire unregistered teachers in certain circumstances. The days of having non-teachers teaching in schools should be over.

There is a significant and notable difference between this and the original Bill. I have a difficulty with the discontinuation of the section that provides for vocational education committees to be patrons of national schools. As someone who has served in VECs and has been active on various schools' boards of management, I am aware of the important role played by the vocational education system throughout the country.

The Minister rightly established a forum on patronage. During the past decade in particular, there has been a diversification in patronage. This situation has evolved, given the high level of immigration as well as people's desire for diversity in patronage. The establishment of the community national school model was desirable, in that it catered for parents' wishes in respect of denominational, multi-denominational and non-denominational education within a single-patron framework. This was provided for in the 2010 legislation and I am disappointed that the Minister will not keep it in this Bill, despite the fact that he expects the report of the forum on patronage shortly. Including this provision would have sent a clear message to the forum concerning the diversity that is made available through the community national school model.

The Minister will have powers over the appointment, redeployment and dismissal of teachers. Under the Education Act 1998, these procedures must be agreed by the Minister and educational partners. Under this Bill, however, the procedures can be implemented following consultation rather than agreement. From a clear reading of the legislation, it appears that the agreement of the partners will no longer be required. Under the Bill, surplus teachers will be redeployed as per the commitment in the Croke Park agreement. In effect, the Bill places elements of that agreement into legislation.

While management bodies have expressed concern with this section and how it will affect their right to protect their schools' ethos, schools remain protected in this regard. The Minister participated in the debates of recent weeks on the need to ensure that people can access schools of their choice. I am referring in particular to schools under the patronage of minority faiths. A teacher may be redeployed to a school with a different ethos, but this would cause no significant problems. In my constituency, people of certain denominations teach in schools of other denominations without problems arising.

The section on allowing the employment of unregistered teachers in certain limited circumstances is unnecessary in light of the significant number of unemployed teachers. A large number of qualified teachers, particularly young teachers, are in this unfortunate position. In the Upper House, Senator Power may have suggested to the Minister that he consider a ban on hiring retired teachers. This continues to be a problem for qualified, young graduates seeking work.

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