Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to discuss this important issue that is critical to Dún Laoghaire colleges of further education and other colleges of further education throughout the country.

From 1 November next, to be paid from State funds, teachers employed in State-funded teaching positions must be registered with the Teaching Council. While implementation of this provision is welcome, there is a need for flexibility in the system as it is currently causing an employment crisis for one college of further education in Dún Laoghaire. I will outline the reason this flexibility is required. First, there is currently no provision in some of the new education and training boards to employ a teacher whose Teaching Council registration is pending. As a result of this, Dún Laoghaire Senior College currently has a certified sick leave vacancy that cannot be filled in the short term, resulting in the cancellation of classes for students. While the supervision and substitution scheme can be used to provide some cover for short-term absences, it is only a temporary solution. Teachers who are available for supervision and substitution generally do not have the subject expertise and skills to deliver the content required. As I stated, supervision and substitution is acceptable on a short term basis, but classes cannot continue to be cancelled should sick leave be extended. This will have a severe impact, particularly in further education, and must be urgently addressed.

Colleges of further education, by their very nature, offer specialist classes including cloud computing, theatrical make-up and soccer coaching. Often experts in an industry are more appropriately competent in these areas than are persons with a teaching diploma. Unfortunately, classes in cloud computing have had to be cancelled owing to this new registration requirement. I have been contacted by students who are upset, annoyed and disappointed because their courses have been cancelled. This is not acceptable. Accommodations must be made to allow the employment of industry specialists until persons deemed qualified by the Teaching Council can be recruited or until such time as these specialists complete a teaching diploma or tutor's course.

The implementation of section 30 has prevented and will continue to prevent new course development and innovation, which has been the hallmark of further education for the past 30 years. I therefore urge the Minister to put in place a mechanism to allow the education and training boards to employ teachers whose Teaching Council registrations are pending. I also call on him to put in place a mechanism to allow the education and training boards to employ industry specialists to fill immediate vacancies.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this topic on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn. I thank Deputy Mitchell O'Connor for raising the matter.

Section 30 of the Teaching Council Act 2001 is due to be commenced on 1 November 2013. It is designed to underpin the Department's policy of a registered and fully qualified graduate teaching profession. It prohibits payment by the State of people employed as teachers in recognised schools unless they are registered with the Teaching Council. It also facilitates the Teaching Council in promoting professional standards in teaching. It acts in the public good by upholding and enhancing the reputation and status of the teaching profession through fair and transparent regulation.

It has long been the policy of the Department of Education and Skills that only qualified and registered teachers should be employed by schools. Current recruitment procedures set out in circular 31/2011 require schools to ensure that teachers proposed for appointment to publicly paid posts are registered with the Teaching Council and have qualifications appropriate to the sector and suitable to the post for which they are proposed. Circular 25/2013, which advised of the commencement of section 30 on 1 November 2013, was published on 15 May and refers to the requirements for the recruitment of teachers following the commencement of section 30, and the small number of permitted exceptions from the requirement to employ registered teachers.

A further circular to be published shortly will contain the procedures for people and schools upon the commencement of section 30, following further consultation with staff representative and management bodies. Regulations governing the limited conditions under which an unregistered person may be employed after the commencement of section 30 have been drafted and will be published with the circular. I hope this will clarify the situation considerably for the Deputy. Schools have been advised to ensure that registration with the Teaching Council is included as a requirement when advertising vacant teaching posts and to seek evidence of current registration prior to offering positions.

As mentioned by Deputy and discussed at length over the past couple of weeks, there are certain specialist posts in the education sector that are occupied by people who are not qualified teachers but that have been traditionally classified as teaching posts. In some cases, these posts were always intended to be teaching posts. In other cases, positions are instructional in nature and a teaching qualification is not essential. It is in the educational interests of students that those delivering such courses have specialist qualifications or experience. It is also in the public interest that such courses and activities be allowed to continue. A number of courses delivered in our PLCs and certain specialist roles in special schools would fall into this category. The Department, in consultation with the management bodies, is currently identifying these posts and where they exist. Such posts will be reclassified and will not subject to the requirements of section 30. A list of these specialist posts will be made available shortly.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I agree that this issue has been discussed a great deal recently and I thank him for examining the issues I have raised. I am glad to hear that some posts in specialist areas will be reclassified. I am sure Dún Laoghaire Senior College will be delighted to hear that.

I would like to draw the Minister of State's attention to another problem that arises in the context of the implementation of section 30. The Department of Education and Skills has indicated that section 30 will not apply to teachers working in the adult and community education sector, including adult education delivered at night.

However, the courses being delivered in both sectors are often similar or identical to full-time courses being delivered in further education colleges. This unfair difference in treatment must be urgently addressed.

Furthermore, teachers who are qualified to work in third level institutions such as institutions of technology do not require Teaching Council registration. This means teachers in institutes of technology will no longer be eligible for employment in further education colleges once section 30 has been commenced. These differences need to be recognised and accommodated by the Department. I urge the Minister to explore every possible avenue to reach an immediate and fair solution to these matters before 1 November.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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The Government's view, which I am sure is shared by the Deputy as a member of the teaching profession, is that all teachers should be appropriately qualified and we must be able to stand over the quality of the teaching delivered in all schools. The commencement of section 30 of the Teaching Council Act will reinforce the Department's long-standing position that education in recognised schools funded by the State must be delivered by appropriately regulated professionals. This position must be maintained in the interests of providing the best possible education to students, which is the minimum that schoolchildren deserve. The commencement of section 30 is intended to buttress this policy and will help ensure we deliver a quality education to all of our children.

Bearing in mind the case made by the Deputy on specialised qualifications and experience of certain individuals outside the teaching profession, which would be of immense benefit to those participating in certain courses, as I indicated, we are identifying what are these specialist roles and we may seek to forego the requirement to have the individuals in question register with the Teaching Council under section 30 of the Act. The other anomalies raised will also be explored in this process.

Deputy Mitchell O'Connor described two different methods of educational delivery. The adult and community education sectors operate on a fundamentally different basis from primary and post-primary schools. The particular anomalies she described may be difficult to resolve but we will do our best to do so.