Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

Both principals and teachers have suggested to me that we should bring down the shutters on this provision. We all know that practical difficulties can arise in remote areas but I would prefer not to countenance the practice. If the Minister is minded to proceed with it, the circumstances under which it applies must be limited. I hope the practice will be non-existent.

I will run through the legislation briefly. While this is more a matter for Committee Stage, the word "may" in section 6 should be replaced by "shall". Such a change would require the Minister to prescribe circumstances and conditions for the employment of a person in place of a registered teacher in circumstances where he or she was satisfied that it was necessary to do so in accordance with the terms of the Bill. The Bill as presented merely states that the Minister may prescribe circumstances and conditions. There is a concern that a person could be employed in place of a registered teacher without this being governed by strong ministerial regulations.

My concern over section 7 relates to the term "in a teaching position". I would propose to delete "in a teaching position" and replace it with "in place of a registered teacher". The reference to this person being employed in a teaching position is anomalous and inaccurate. The subsection provides that the Minister may require, in effect, prescribed qualification for such a person. People in teaching positions have their qualifications prescribed under the law by the Teaching Council, which has the responsibility under the terms of the European directive and the Teaching Council Act. While the Minister may be able to give a clear explanation on Committee Stage, it seems to me that the Minister cannot take on the responsibility of setting out qualifications for a person who is employed in a teaching position. We need that paragraph amended and I hope what I have proposed in layperson's language can be addressed on Committee Stage.

Overall, I welcome the Bill and I hope we are in a position to address those few important issues. We will be supporting the Bill on Second Stage and we hope we will be able to work with the Minister to address the issues on Committee Stage. The message for all of us is to give newly qualified people or qualified people of working age the opportunities for any employment that may arise so that we have the qualified person in the classroom. Unfortunately today there are many qualified, eager, determined and committed people who do not have an opportunity to go into a classroom to teach. The obligation is on us as legislators to ensure that we set the parameters so that the qualified person gets the opportunity and that we are not taking back into the classroom retired people who have had their day in gainful employment. We need to give young people the opportunity to get working in the profession and get a full-time career as soon as possible.

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