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

That is the case, Deputy Coppinger. This only concerns cases that are brought to investigation. It will only apply in cases where it is appropriate that they would be brought to investigation. There are then a number of stages to the fitness to teach process within the Teaching Council before it would get to a hearing. It would not get to a hearing unless it was sufficiently serious. I use the word "serious" because that is the word Deputy Boyd Barrett uses in his proposed amendments. Our legal advice is that this is implicit in the definitions and the fitness to teach process. Any complaint that gets to the point of a hearing will be a serious complaint. If one reads the legislation and examines the role of the Teaching Council, it is clear that in order to get to the point of a hearing there will be an examination of the complaint. If it is frivolous or something that is not the teacher's fault, the complaint will not get to the point of a hearing. That is clear in the legislation and the fitness to teach process.

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