Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

I wish to respond to Senator David Norris. The intention was to introduce section 30 of the Teaching Council Act 2001 without qualification. It was absolute in that it did not, as it should have, take account of unusual circumstances. The net point was that one could not be paid from moneys voted by the Oireachtas if one was hired on a temporary basis and not a qualified teacher. That was the thrust of the legal advice we received on the section and it was the subject of much discussion at the teachers' trade union conferences last Easter. We changed the position in a circular, not the legislation, by making a recommendation that, where possible, only qualified teachers be employed. The reality was, given the nature of home life arrangements where both parents were frequently working outside the home, unlike the position in the past when somebody was always there, a school to be closed could have happily sent its pupils home in the expectation that somebody would be there. However, that expectation is now unreasonable and does not fit with reality. The modification mentioned was made.

There are references to a registration that has lapsed or is pending. The reason is that the Teaching Council is not a representative of the trade unions; it is the professional organisation of the teaching profession, in the same way that the Medical Council is the professional organisation for doctors and the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland is the professional organisation for registered architects and so on. Significantly, it is the disciplinary body which will withhold recognition from teachers who fail to comply with the terms and conditions of their registration. Earlier in the legislation, in amending the Teaching Council legislation, we are giving powers to the council to state one can only re-register as a teacher if one has complied with certain requirements in respect of continuous professional development, a standard applied by most professional organisations. One has to upgrade one's skills and demonstrate that one has maintained one's skills level through a prescribed set of courses.

The great critique of some of the Senator's right-wing colleagues, not his I hasten to add, is that one cannot get rid of a non-performing teacher. The peer group of the Teaching Council will have the capacity to refuse registration, if it so chooses, and decide that one of its colleagues has failed to meet the standards laid down. Recently, in the Law Library, a prominent practitioner at the Bar had his licence to practise cancelled because of the publicity surrounding a certain case in which clients had been defrauded of money. Obviously, I cannot name the case in question. Clearly, the Bar Council found that a person acting as a barrister had misled his clients and acted fraudulently and against its rules. Therefore, as a result, he lost his licence to practise.

There has been controversy within teaching circles that the requirement to pay a registration fee €90 a year with no return service is onerous; it has been the subject of conversation in certain staff rooms. Some ask why they should pay, given that they will receive nothing in return. As and from the commencement date of the Bill, the Teaching Council can require payment and do for its profession what other professions do for their members. That is the thinking behind the provision.

Senator Rónán Mullen had a query about a particular section.