Liam Fitzgerald (Fianna Fail)

I admit to being a little confused. Given my background, I am very sympathetic towards some of the sentiments expressed by Senator O'Toole. However, I am not at all sure that there is such a closeness between the different circumstances outlined. Consider the case of a primary teacher and a member of An Garda Síochána. I have always understood that there is no contract involved when a leaving certificate student enters training college and that there is no job involved until such time that the student graduates and seeks a job thereafter. I had experiences lately that showed me how tenuous my position in the House is as a former teacher. I will not go into the details but it reinforces the point I am making.

I have always understood that a student's entry to the Garda Training College was part of a contractual arrangement — maybe I am wrong and I am open to correction — and that there was a continuum between one's training and one's entering the workforce. Until now, I have not understood that there was such a continuum pertaining to primary teachers. While I am very sympathetic towards the principle of Senator O'Toole's point, I anticipate a number of difficulties. Perhaps the Minister of State will enlighten me. If we were to allow the same continuum to operate in the case of primary teachers — I was one and still officially am — as operates in the case of gardaí, would we not be faced with the same dilemma with regard to university graduates who become secondary teachers or third level teachers? What distinction can we draw legally, constitutionally if relevant, or in terms of equity between primary and secondary teachers? If we can draw a distinction, it is great.

If a leaving certificate student enters university to do a primary degree with a view to becoming a teacher, should he or she not be in the same position as my daughter, who has just entered teacher training college? Should that student not have an equal case in terms of equity and legal definitions of contracts? Am I missing the whole point? If such a student does not have an equal case, the question that has been posed by Senator O'Toole, as I understand it, covers much more than primary teachers. Sympathetic as I am to the issue of primary teachers and the need for Government to make a commitment to them and support them, I anticipate difficulties. If my reasoning is wrong, will the Minister of State indicate this to me clearly? If it is wrong, I will be very supportive of an amendment on Report Stage to support the proposal being put forward.