Results 4,501-4,520 of 17,531 for speaker:Jan O'Sullivan

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: One question around this area is whether there should be different qualifications if one is teaching in a special school as opposed to a mainstream primary school. The issue of having different rules is the question the Teaching Council was concerned about, that we should, in some way, say there is a different standard in terms of qualification. The issue of Montessori is one on which I...

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: That is the current situation. It is a regulation issue rather than being central to the Bill.

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Government amendment No. 15 amends subsection (4) of section 33 of the 2001 Act, as amended by this Bill. The amendment is necessary in order to correct a cross reference in that subsection to subsection (4A) of the same section. Section 33 deals with renewal of registration and subsection (4A) of section 33, as amended by this Bill, is concerned with the council notifying a teacher of its...

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: As Senator Reilly has said, this was discussed in the Dáil and it was also considered fully during the drafting of the legislation. Legal advice was obtained to assist in the Bill's preparation with regard to this specific issue. Arising from this consideration and our consultation with the Attorney General's office, I believe it is neither necessary nor appropriate to include the word...

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The purpose of the amendment is to provide for non-compliance with an undertaking given by a registered teacher following an inquiry by the disciplinary committee under section 43 as an additional reason for complaint under section 42, the section dealing with an inquiry by the investigating committee. If a teacher has agreed to measures as part of an inquiry, it makes sense that...

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Section 16 amends section 42 of the 2001 Act. That section sets out the grounds on which complaints about registered teachers may be made and the role and processes to be followed by the director and the investigating committee in respect of such complaints. Section 42(1D), as amended by the Bill, provides that the council may make a complaint to the investigating committee where a vetting...

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Amendments Nos. 26 and 27 are technical and serve to revise numbering following inclusion of amendment No. 25.

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: This is a technical amendment. The purpose of this provision is to include the word “and” linking to subsection (iii) in amendment No. 31.

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: Amendment No. 34 is a technical amendment required on foot of amendments on Committee Stage in the Dáil to take account of changes in terminology. In this regard, the Bill refers to a “complaint” under section 42, whereas the 2001 Act referred to an “application” or “appeal”. It also deletes the provision at section 42(5)(b)(iii) to the effect...

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: This is largely a technical amendment to transfer the provisions in subsections (1) to (6) from schedule 3 of the 2001 Act, as amended by this Bill, into a new section 43A. This new section 43A sets outs separately the relevant provisions of the Bill relating to the use and assessment of vetting disclosure by a panel undertaking an inquiry under section 43.In addition to the provisions which...

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: This amendment provides that a person commits an offence in the course of an inquiry when he or she fails to attend, having been summoned, refuses to take an oath, refuses to produce any document in his or her power or control lawfully required by the panel or refuses to answer a question. In addition, it is an offence if a person does anything which, if the panel were a court of law, would...

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I do not have the wording of the oath available. I will come back to the Senator on Report Stage with that information, if that is acceptable.

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: This amendment provides that where a complaint is withdrawn by the complainant while it is being considered by the investigating committee or where is has progressed to a panel inquiry, the committee or the panel may, with the agreement of the council, decide either that no further action is to be taken or proceed as if the complaint had not been withdrawn. This is to prevent a situation...

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: I have already outlined amendment No. 40, which provides, inter alia, that a panel may request a teacher to give certain undertakings or consent to certain measures. Amendment No. 49 is necessary to provide that, in such circumstances, the panel will make a decision to confirm those measures. Amendment No. 52 ensures that such decisions, which are arrived at on foot of a voluntary agreement...

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: This is an additional amendment to section 44, subsection 3, of the Principal Act which deals with the removal, suspension or retention of a teacher on the register following an inquiry. The amendment provides that measures entered into by a teacher voluntarily are not appealable to the High Court. The amendment deletes the words "of the Disciplinary Committee" from the phrase "vary...

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: The amendment inserts a new section into the Act and provides that, where it comes to the Teaching Council's attention that a decision to sanction a registered teacher has been made in another state, the Teaching Council will, as soon as practicable, inform the Minister and the teacher's employer, where relevant. The amendment further provides for the Teaching Council, where it has reached a...

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: This amendment inserts a new section in the Act and provides that the council may publish certain information concerning a decision made following an inquiry or a decision made in another jurisdiction. The amendment also provides that the council may also publish the inquiry panel's report, its findings, its decision or the transcript of the inquiry. Information identifying a party to the...

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: This amendment replaces the current section 60 of the Principal Act and concerns the non-admissibility of a statement or admission made by a person to a panel in regard to a complaint in other proceedings. It does not apply, however, where a person commits an offence in respect of a panel inquiry. The proposed amendment follows the form of non-admissibility provisions in more recent...

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: This amendment concerns the appointment of a panel to conduct an inquiry under section 43 of the Act. The amendment proposes the replacement of Schedule 3 of the Principal Act. Much of the detail of Schedule 3 of the Principal Act is now dealt with in the proposed amendment to section 43. Accordingly, this is essentially a structural amendment, and all of its provisions already exist in...

Seanad: Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Jan O'Sullivan: This amendment was also considered in the Dáil and I have referred to having a review of Part 5 after three years following discussions with the teaching unions. What we are doing by way of this Bill is amending the original legislation upon which the council is based. The main purposes of the Bill under consideration are to underpin the Teaching Council's statutory functions in regard...