Liam Fitzgerald (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I welcome this short Bill. The Minister explained the necessity for the Bill, which relates to a legal lacuna which could result in a challenge to the constitutionality or legality of the council. This Bill was needed to remove that lacuna which will be done by way of amendments. The Bill is important because it regularises the entire operation in the build up to the establishment of the council next month.

In that regard I welcome the Minister of State's statement that the Minister, Deputy Hanafin, has informed him that the establishment day for the council will be at the end of next month. On establishment day, the council is formally operational. It can begin to perform all its functions with full legal authority under the Act that set it up three or four years ago. I did not have the opportunity at that time to discuss that legislation and I will make some comments now about the teaching profession that I might have made at the time.

It is important to point out that the existence of the technical lacuna did not in any way inhibit the progress of the development of the structures needed under the Act. It was heartening to hear the Minister of State say that the council is in place, albeit informally. I understand from what he said that the various committees are in place, staffed and ready to go. It was also heartening to hear that much preparatory work has been done and that the committees are ready to perform all the functions required of them once they are made aware of the establishment day when they will be given formal legal status.

The fact that an additional Bill had to be brought forward is not a serious issue, although it would have been better if it had not been necessary. The three statutory committees and the standing committees are up and running, as are the registration committee, the education committee and the investigation and disciplinary committee. All the progress I referred to has taken place prior to the establishment day, which we welcome. I understand the chairman, Ms Ward, has been appointed, although I cannot say when, as has the director, Áine Lawlor. The council has obtained a premises and recruited staff. In terms of the overall umbrella organisation of the council, therefore, it is ready to go, which is to be welcomed.

It is easy to understate the importance of this Teaching Council. It is an important milestone on the road to the ongoing professional development of teachers but it is equally important for our students and the country as a whole. Through the Department of Education and Science, standards, policy, qualifications, programmes, development and so on have been progressed. The council will now establish standards, policies and procedures for the education and training of teachers, and it will include a professional code of conduct.

I agree with Senator Burke that there has been far too much emphasis in the media and among commentators about the issue of a code of conduct. The code of conduct is vital but it is not the only area at the heart of this issue. Issues such as standards, qualifications and training are also important.

When a regulatory council is being set up for professionals, the question is whether it is to be regulated from within, without or from both angles. There is a large degree of self-regulation and professional autonomy at the heart of the Teaching Council. The Teaching Council which is being established next month will enhance the status and morale of teachers. Teachers' morale has been battered quite significantly in recent years because of much unjustified criticism of them.

Just as the council will help teachers it will equally help parents. It will help reassure parents that the teachers into whose care they are placing their children will not alone meet the highest standards of qualification, professionalism and competence but will be seen to meet those high standards. Parents will know the council has a clear course of action if a teacher is found to be failing in his or her profession. There have been isolated cases where teachers have failed to meet the highest standards in fulfilling the obligations, duties and functions of the profession. Sometimes there has been a justifiable degree of concern among parents about the uncertainty of dealing with such issues. That there is now a clear set of procedures and policy available to the council in its dealings with the Department of Education and Science on such issues is reassuring for parents.

I pay tribute to our teachers, not only for the past ten, 15 or 20 years but going back over the generations. They have played a very important role and made an incalculable contribution to the development of the country economically and socially. We have had enormous challenges in both spheres. In general, they provided an excellent standard of teaching. They have helped to inculcate the highest values of personal integrity among students from primary to second level education. They have promoted civil and social responsibility among students which are even more important than ever given all the challenges of drug abuse, alcohol addiction and so on. Down through the decades and the generations many teachers have been models of community leadership. They have shown example to children not alone through the school structure but out in the community. They have also played a very important role in building community structures, and promoting sport and youth activities.

I am not trying to be a male chauvinist, but there has been a decline in recent years in the promotion of some outdoor competitive physical sports activities because of the low number of male teachers. That is not casting an aspersion on female teachers who are extremely good and many of whom are well known to me and give great leadership. Nevertheless we should use the opportunity to encourage teachers, through the council, to rebuild the spirit of promotion of sport and youth activities through schools. There is no doubt they have been the basis for the high standards achieved in competitive sport and we have to salute our teachers for that enormous contribution.

Like all other professions, teachers have come to recognise and accept the need for a structure, such as the Teaching Council, to meet the ever-increasing demands on their professionalism and the challenges to their competence and responsibilities as educators in the maintenance of educational standards and quality. It is reassuring to learn of their co-operation and input into the steering committee and the various developments that have brought us to this point.

The setting up of the Teaching Council goes back to the 1991 OECD review of Irish education and the 1992 Green Paper, Education for a Changing World, both of which strongly recommended the setting up of such a council. Therefore, it has not come out of the blue, it has been evolving for a period and is all the better for that. With that evolution came many important inputs which will make it an effective and successful council.

Nurses have An Bord Altranais, doctors have the Medical Council and solicitors have the Incorporated Law Society. Teachers will now have their own council because the regulation of any profession is essential to maintain and enhance the highest possible standards. It is high time the State gave recognition to teachers for the role they can play in such a council. I commend the manner in which this is being done through the Teaching Council.

The issue of self-regulation has been raised from time to time and not always for positive reasons. There are, perhaps, one or two professions that have come under the spotlight because the public perception has been that their self-regulation has not always been successful. There is a challenge to the notion that teachers should be self-regulated. I would offer a counter challenge for a number of reasons. The Teaching Council will allow teachers to have a large degree of input into the spectrum of educational matters relating to teaching and education from primary through the continuum of education. It is high time, given the tremendous record of teachers in the history of education, we entrusted to them a far greater say in the running of their activities and in the evolution and development of the profession in terms of standards, quality, entry, their work, the environment in which they work and the difficulties that pertain to their work.

Even more important, in terms of the challenges for teachers and school principals in recent years, is the increase in needs, such as the National Council for Special Education, and all that means in terms of extra commitments and responsibilities in schools. There are significant challenges for teachers resulting from self-regulation but there are also significant gains. I have no doubt given my knowledge of teachers, their commitment and the sense of vocation shown down through the years, that they will embrace these challenges with enthusiasm.

Sometimes the issue of self-regulation comes under the spotlight for negative reasons. Reference has been made to the fact that teachers and teaching unions in general come in for much criticism because of the perception that teachers who fail to meet certain standards are not always dealt with effectively. One of the challenges for the Teaching Council will be to win public support and the genuine respect and credibility of all the partners in education. To do that it will have to secure and enhance the status of teachers and teaching in the eyes of the public. I have every confidence it is capable of doing that as I know of teachers' record and commitment to the vocation of teaching.

Teachers have much to gain from the new council and will be consulting it to develop their profession. Ongoing professional development is perhaps more essential for teachers than members of many other professions in that there is a central dependance on teachers for their contribution to social and community development and, of equal importance, economic development. The Government, as with previous Governments, has brought education to the centre of economic development and has clearly acknowledged the contribution it can and must make to our economic future.

Teachers have a key role to play and face considerable challenges and opportunities. I have no doubt they will use the council as their voice to enhance the perception of their work and the appreciation of the challenges they face. They will also use it to enhance the need for co-operation by parents and all other partners in education. I commend the Minister of State on the announcement to establish the council next month. I look forward to its very successful operation.