Mary Moran (Labour)

In response to Senator Norris, for what it is worth I will add my tuppence-ha'penny. When the regulations stipulating that one was obliged to register with the Teaching Council were introduced a number of years ago, mea culpa but I was one of those who forgot to re-register at the end of that year. It simply was a time lapse as I was too busy in the classroom. I also mentioned this point during the Second Stage debate last week but when I went to re-register, I was obliged to go through all the formalities again. I was obliged to supply every single result of every university examination I had taken. Moreover, I was obliged to undergo Garda vetting again after 22 years of teaching, which took a certain amount of time. I rang the Teaching Council and asked why I was being obliged to do this. I asked the reason I was being obliged to pay €90 simply to be able to say I was a registered teacher. This is the reason I welcome the change whereby the Teaching Council will have more power and will ensure the teaching quality is of the highest standard. I agree we will have better and more compulsory professional development. As for the business of registering as a teacher, one had a window within the first six months in which one could register without being obliged to produce any documentation. However, if one failed to so do within that timeframe, one was obliged to go through the process of submitting all one's qualifications.