Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Seanadóir Ó Domhnaill and the Acting Chairman. I also welcome the Minister to the House. We know that the key to a nation's future is the quality of its education and key to that is the quality of its teachers. I very much welcome this dimension within the new Teaching Council Act and the fact that 87,000 teachers have now registered is critical. I did speak to Thomas O'Rourke and he clarified that teachers who are out of the country - the Minister might clarify the matter - can register in the future because they are not here at the moment but may return.

Fitness to teach is the critical provision and is understandably controversial. I agree that the legislation must be fair to everyone - student and teacher. For the teacher, natural justice and due process is critical. There is no doubt that there is a need for it when I have heard that 65% of students in a class received grinds and the teacher got overwhelming results in the State examination. That tells me that something is fundamentally wrong.

In the past I have supervised teachers and been a teacher. Therefore, I can say that the key person that the Minister must invest in is the principal. A principal must be incredibly strong in order to address problems inside a school before a matter goes to a public hearing, and I ask the Minister to clarify that matter.

I wish to make two more brief points.