Rónán Mullen (Independent)

I fail to see how this would involve "interposing the Minister". The purpose of the proposal is to establish a protection for schools in circumstances where, for example, a stalemate may emerge which gives rise to an awkward situation for the school and in which the school could be prevented from taking any action other than to appoint a substitute.

I do not propose to prolong the discussion on this matter. The essence of the Minister's comments is that the amendment is too indiscriminate. Will he consider discussing with his officials the possibility of introducing an amendment in the Dáil to make this provision less indiscriminate and prevent the type of mischief that could arise in schools as a result of the circumstances I have described? As I indicated, under the legislation, it will be a State requirement that a person have a registration. Is it possible that a person who is unregistered for a long period and is not receiving remuneration from a school could arrive at a school and sit in the staffroom every day, potentially for years, and the school would not be in a position to do anything about it? This may be an extreme scenario but we must legislate with such circumstances in mind. Were such a case to arise, the school would not be able to do more than appoint a substitute, which would be unfair to someone else down the line. While it may well be that the Minister's officials view such a possibility as being in the realm of the imaginary, as I indicated, we need to legislate with such scenarios in mind. I ask the Minister to consider, in advance of the Bill being brought before the Dáil, whether an amended version of my proposal could be introduced in the other House?