Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I am optimistic this issue is an oversight or an anomaly that the Government can rectify. It should not cost money to do so, which should provide some relief, as it is simply a matter of trying to sort out a problem faced by teachers, particularly those in vocational education committees. It was brought to my attention by teachers in the VEC in Dún Laoghaire but I understand it may affect up to 5,000 people working in VECs.

The Education (Amendment) Act 2012 required people to be registered with the Teaching Council for them to be paid by the State. There are many teachers working in the VECs who are unable to register with the Teaching Council because they do not have degrees, although they have worked for a long time with a VEC and are very well-qualified to do their teaching job. That is certainly the case with the individuals who came to me.

However, due to this legislation and a departmental directive to vocational education committees, VECs, teachers were told that they could no longer be paid out of the State purse as of the end of October.

Will the Minister of State rectify this anomaly? It is perfectly reasonable to introduce regulations on teachers' qualifications and registration. When the Act was passed, it may have been focused on the primary and secondary sectors wherein one would expect everyone to have degrees. In the vocational sector, a degree is not necessary for many people. The person who approached me was a soccer coach and had the highest possible qualifications in that regard. As he does not have a degree though, he cannot register with the Teaching Council, which means he is threatened with the loss of his job. He has worked for the VEC for 17 years. The person in the Dún Laoghaire VEC has worked there for 12 years and someone else has worked in a VEC for five or six years. Apparently, as many as 5,000 people may be in this limbo and are threatened with losing their jobs. Will the Minister of State amend the directive to allow for the teachers in question, many of whom have been working for a long time and are qualified in other ways to do their jobs, to register with the Teaching Council so their jobs will not come under threat and they can be paid by the VECs?

A related issue is that these workers should have contracts of indefinite duration, which is not currently the case. It seems that the VECs have failed in this worker's rights issue. We are referring to people who have been employed for 12 or 17 years. They are essentially working on a month-to-month basis with a guillotine hanging over their jobs. Does the Minister of State understand my point on the need to act on this matter and to ensure these teachers do not lose their jobs? The Teaching Council should be told to allow them to register and the VECs should be instructed to give contracts of indefinite duration to those who have an entitlement to such so they can have security of employment.

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