Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to speak about the Education (Amendment) Bill 2012, which abolishes the Educational Disadvantage Committee and allows for the employment of unregistered teachers in limited circumstances. It also gives the Minister for Education and Skills greater power in deciding procedures for the employment, redeployment and dismissal of teachers. It deals with the Scientific and Technological Education (Investment) Fund Act 1997 and the Scientific and Technological Education (Investment) Fund (Amendment) Act 1998.

The Bill gives the Minister for Education and Skills the power to redeploy a teacher, who is surplus to requirements in one school, to a school where a vacancy exists, while also ensuring that the commitments in the Croke Park agreement are honoured. While intending that all teachers will be registered by the Teaching Council, there will be a balance between having teachers fully qualified and registered, and in certain exceptional cases allowing schools to employ unregistered teachers on short-term rolling contracts.

The Bill provides that the HSE is responsible for speech therapists in schools, which has caused confusion for parents and professionals in the past. The Bill seeks to provide a clearer separation of functions between the Department and the HSE.

While the number of teachers in recent years has fluctuated, mainly in secondary schools, the number of teaching staff in primary and secondary schools has increased by 2,823 from 55,851 in the 2006-07 school year to 58,674 in the 2010-11 school year. The Government has committed to increasing the number of teaching staff over the next two years. At the same time, the national recovery plan has given a commitment to reform terms and conditions within the teaching profession in line with a commitment in the Croke Park agreement as follows. There will be a comprehensive review and revision of the contract for teachers and other educational staff, including special needs assistants, staff in vocational education committees, institutes of technologies and universities, to identify and remove the impediments to the provision of effective services. Teachers and academic staff will be required to work an additional hour per week to provide a wide range of needs in various institutions, which will be committed to flexible delivery of new courses specifically aimed at the unemployed. There will be a process of redeployment at all levels to facilitate restructuring in the second and third level sectors. Improvements will be made in the substitution and supervision roster for teachers in second level schools.

The Teaching Council Act 2001 and the Teaching Council (Amendment) Act 2006 provide a legislative framework for regulating the teaching profession, promoting and developing teaching as a profession. The specific functions of the Teaching Council are as follows: to promote teaching as a profession; to promote the continuing professional development of teachers; to establish and maintain a register of teachers; to establish, publish, review and maintain codes of professional conduct, which include teaching knowledge, skills and competence; to regulate the professional conduct of teachers; and to maintain and improve the standard of teachers. More than 73,000 teachers are on the register of teachers.

I thank the Minister for the grant he gave the De La Salle secondary school in Dundalk, which has been allocated almost €500,000. Demand for places in this school has been very high and this will solve a major problem in the local area. I also refer to the education of persons with special educational needs, which is fantastic. We need to give small schools an opportunity to look at their teachers. Réalt Na Mara is the only school in Dundalk that has facilities for children with autism. At the moment the school has 19 teachers. If the new system is introduced, this will reduce to 15. I ask the Minister to consider this case in detail. It is very important to keep as many teachers as possible in these types of schools. I have been talking to many parents for whom a school such as the Réalt Na Mara dedicated to looking after children with autism is very important.

I commend the Bill to the House.

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