Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support the well articulated call for a debate on domestic violence. Last Monday, I attended a COPE event in Galway. There are 800 reported cases of domestic violence in Galway this year in which the victims required shelter from their partners or spouses, the abusers. That is the situation at local level. The report from the Garda Inspectorate is excellent and necessary. It is clear the Garda has been working with Dark Ages technology. It is unbelievable that it has been able to do its job at all.

My main reason for contributing this morning is to comment on the dispute with teachers. It must be appreciated that the Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, has gone some distance in offering a very good deal to teachers.

She is now offering 60% external assessment, plus the State exam, with 40% internal assessment by teachers on the basis of continuous assessment. Much of this is going on already. At a committee meeting a number of months ago, I sought a deal of this nature from Deputy Ruairí Quinn, who was then Minister, and he was nowhere near there. The current Minister has been extremely positive in listening to teachers' needs when we consider what she is offering today. In light of this, I ask the teachers' unions to think again and re-ballot members, because the deal that was refused is very different from the deal that is now on the table. We must appreciate the importance of assessment for learning and, for that reason, teachers should do some assessment. This improves their professionalism. If the children were just a few years older, they would be marking all of their tests in colleges and in further education. Many teachers are impressed with the deal, and I appeal to the unions to put it back on the table.