Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I agree with one thing the Deputy said. We do not want teachers to be homogenous and all conform exactly to some picture of what somebody else might think a teacher should be. We have all had great teachers who were different in many ways. The wording states teachers should be fit and proper to be admitted to the register. The word "proper" is not used in the sense of somebody being prim and proper but being proper to be admitted to the register.

Amendments Nos. 2 and 3 would replace the term "fit and proper" with "qualified person". The Bill's provisions on the council being satisfied that an applicant is a fit and proper person to be registered enable it to consider whether he or she is suitable to be registered, including from a child protection perspective. The reference to an assessment of whether a person is fit and proper replaces the current wording in the Act which provides for the council to seek evidence of character for the purpose of registering a person. We could debate whether the term "evidence of character" should be replaced. Under the existing Act, the council requests evidence of character from applicants as part of its assessment of an application for registration. Under its current procedures for assessing such evidence, it publishes details of the evidence requested and the considerations taken into account in assessing the evidence. This includes Garda vetting and declarations or references from higher education institutes or regulators in other jurisdictions, as appropriate. This change in wording will set out more clearly the steps the council may take to request evidence from an applicant for the purpose of determining an application for registration, including whether the application is a fit and proper person to be registered. The changed wording will not alter the approach or practice already in place.

The term "fit and proper" is commonly used in legislation concerned with ensuring a person is suitable for particular roles or to be registered for a profession. For example, the Health and Social Care Professionals Act, 2005 which deals with the registration of professionals such as social workers and psychologists contains a similar provision. The Bill places Garda vetting for initial teacher registration on a statutory basis, thereby ensuring any person who is not considered by the Teaching Council as fit and proper to be registered from a child protection perspective will not be registered as a teacher in the first instance. I indicated on Committee Stage that if amendments Nos. 2 and 3 were accepted, the council would only be able to assess a Garda vetting disclosure for the purpose of determining whether a person was qualified to be admitted to the register. This is clearly not the intended purpose of a vetting disclosure.

On whether a person is qualified to be registered, the Bill makes separate provision for the Teaching Council to set out requirements in respect of the professional and educational qualifications a person must obtain in order to register. For the reasons outlined, I am satisfied that the term "fit and proper" is appropriate. Therefore, I do not propose to accept the amendments.

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