Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Teaching Council is charged with ensuring that we have the very highest standards applying in the teaching profession in this country, thus giving our children the maximum possible opportunity to benefit from their educational experience. The Teaching Council is responsible for the procedures and criteria for the probation of teachers. It is an independent, autonomous entity operating within guidelines underpinned by legislation passed through the Houses of the Oireachtas. At the moment, teachers in the situation referred to by Senator Conway, are currently working in what is described by the Teaching Council as a restricted setting, which does not allow them to complete the probationary process in full. If we were to do what Senator Conway suggests it would then mean having to change the criterion for the entire teaching profession. It is my understanding that the Teaching Council does not think that is in the best interests of the teaching profession or of students. I have much sympathy for teachers operating in such a difficult environment but for the moment the only opportunity available to them is to seek work in what one would describe as a mainstream setting and to complete the probationary process in such a setting, thus allowing them access to the full supplementary panel.