Joe O'Toole (Independent)

Fáiltím roimh an Aire Stáit. Tá an reachtaíocht thar a bheith tábhachtach. Gan amhras, níl i gceist anseo ach botún a rinneamar b'fhéidir anuraidh nó dhá bhliain ó shin a cheartú. Níl sé sin ró-thábhachtach. Rud atá an-tábhachtach ná féachaint ar conas atá an feachtas seo ag dul ar aghaidh, agus an tábhacht a bhaineann leis sin. Níl rud ar bith níos tábhachtaí in aon chuid den saol ná oideachas a chur ar fáil do dhaoine.

Let me begin by making a point to the cynics, the people who do not consider the worth of education but look beyond it. My first lecture in economics began with the statement that the basis of a good economy is a healthy, educated young population. This is the basis of everything else. This is not to say that teachers take all the credit for the Celtic tiger, it is not that simple. It is a question of society, in all its aspects, advancing through education.

The most crucial point, which was touched upon by my colleagues and the Minister of State, is that the campaign to establish the Teaching Council was driven by teachers. To those who say teachers are worried about accountability, I reply that they have always wanted their profession to be regulated properly. Teachers at all levels have been seeking this initiative for many years and welcome it, although many would say it will put them under the cosh now and again. Nonetheless, the teaching profession has reached out to make itself accountable. Other professions have been much slower in this regard. We are still trying to get some professions to agree to some form of oversight or regulation.

People will argue that a lot of money has been paid for benchmarking in the public sector and they will ask what they get back. I could go through all the areas of the public sector and state what communities have received back but I want to consider education and teachers specifically. In the past year, teachers and their unions have bought into the concept of whole school evaluation and published reports in this regard. Teachers say they have nothing to hide and are proud of what they do, and the evaluations demonstrate what they do. They have also bought into the idea of a teaching council as an oversight body to monitor their work. Will the Minister of State mention this to any of the cynics, doubters, anti-public service types and anti-teacher types who ask what they get back?

Through the aforementioned steps alone — there are many more — we have, over the past two years, got back from primary and post-primary teachers more than we could have dreamt of. This is the reality and we should be proud of it. Teachers have rightly argued over the detail and no doubt will do so again, because this is what negotiation is all about, but the fact is that there has been delivery and the teaching profession can be proud of what it has done.

I listened to the debate in the Dáil and found it discouraging, painful and extraordinarily negative. I do not know from where it came. The teaching profession is setting up a teaching council that will deal with all the relevant issues, including qualifications and the pre-training and postgraduate training of teachers. This represents a bonus to society. Consideration is being given to the following: continuing professional development and its benefits to teachers, pupils and society; ethics and codes of conduct, including the question of how teachers should behave; the checks and balances that exist; and new international developments so we can ensure we are leaders in terms of global best practice. As part of the establishment of the Teaching Council, we are also considering the present and future recognition of teachers and how they fit within the school structures. All these positive initiatives are being taken and the community is being given confidence in the teaching profession, yet all I heard in the other House was Members asking how teachers could be sacked.