Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The approach we are seeing from the Minister and the policy he has adopted very much diminishes the importance of the guidance counsellor role vis-à-visother teaching roles in schools. One would not send a teacher qualified in Irish to teach English unless he or she also had a qualification in English. Likewise, one would not have someone who was unqualified teaching a maths class; nor would the Minister advocate it. What the Minister stated in his response is that to avoid an impact on subject choice he decided that the least worst option was a reduction in the guidance counselling role and that principals could cut this if they so decided to provide greater subject choice or to cater for other needs in the school. I do not think this is acceptable. The response we have received from the Minister and Minister of State that other teachers can do this work acknowledges the fact the role played by guidance counsellors is very important and specialist in terms of career guidance, which is a traditional role in which much knowledge is required, and with regard to counselling, in which they are qualified and which requires qualifications.

We are going down a dangerous road in removing an essential service that has been built up over a period of time. Not acknowledging this and standing over the fact that he will continue this approach is something about which the Minister must think very seriously. He must change the direction in which he is going.

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