Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, to the House. Like Senator O'Toole, I was disappointed when I heard some of the comments made in the Lower House. Having listened to the debate in that House, I feel that some Deputies need to be reminded of the need to get on with this amending legislation. The Deputies in question did not address the core reasons for the establishment of the Teaching Council. This amending legislation relates to a small part of the council's operations.

We need to talk about the Teaching Council. When I told some of my former teaching colleagues last weekend that the Seanad was to have a debate on the Teaching Council during the week, they did not know what I was talking about. While a great deal of preparatory work has been done since the Teaching Council Act 2001 was passed, it seems that this Bill is necessary, unfortunately, because a legislative lacuna has been uncovered. I have a problem with the word "lacuna" in this context — I have to get my head around it. It seems that a commencement order will have to be made if the council is to be established by the end of March. This amending Bill is necessary to give a legal basis to the regulations which were signed into law in 2004, thereby allow the Teaching Council to become a statutory body and get on with its work.

The Teaching Council has not been the subject of any publicity. It is a shame that teachers do not seem to know anything about the council. God knows that teachers have received bad press in recent years. Everyone outside the profession seems to think that teachers have it all because they get three months of holidays, they are finished every day by 2.30 p.m. or 3.30 p.m. and they work just 22 hours per week.