Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach inniu chun an Bille um Chomhairle Mhúinteoireacta (Leasú) 2015 a phlé. Is fada an lá ó bhí mise ar scoil ach déanfaidh mé mo dhícheall labhairt faoin mBille agus faoin ábhar tábhachtach seo.

I did not get much notice about speaking on the Bill but I listened with care to what the Minister said. She dealt with the technicalities of the Bill, which is comprehensive. Fianna Fáil has been consistent in calling on the Minister to address inadequate Garda vetting of new and existing teachers in schools for a long time. In that regard, we welcome the mandatory vetting procedures provided for in this legislation. We call on her to follow through, by ensuring Garda vetting for new and existing teachers is treated as a priority, is expedited and properly resourced.

The Bill underpins the role of the Teaching Council in the forthcoming statutory vetting arrangements but also amends the Teaching Council Act 2001 and the Education Act by strengthening the statutory provisions relating to the Teaching Council's fitness to teach function, or as the Minister put it more succinctly in her speech - the purpose of the council's fitness to teach role is to uphold standards and protect children. That is something to which we would all subscribe.

The Teaching Council is made up of two thirds teachers and their union representatives. That seems to be quite a high proportion of teachers. How much representation is there for parents on the Teaching Council? In addition, how much representation is allowed for independent people such as former judges or people with experience of the Labour Court, for example? I refer to people who would have had an adjudicative role during their lifetime and would have had considerable experience in that regard. To what extent are such people involved in the Teaching Council? It is important to have as many independent voices as possible in such areas to ensure a robust process is employed in the vetting procedures.

Under this legislation the council will have the capacity to remove a teacher from the register where it deems the person is unfit to teach, including as the Minister rightly said, where child protection issues are involved. The council will also be charged with investigating underperformance or conduct issues on foot of complaints from students, parents and teachers, among others. In general, it is fair to say that teachers are held in high regard in the community. There was concern following the demise of religious teachers who gave freely of their time, in particular those who played a significant role in extra-curricular activities such as sport, but many teachers are now doing that, which is to be welcomed. They go beyond the normal duty of care and responsibility of the job and provide in many other ways for their students. That is appreciated by parents. In a recent survey 87% of parents expressed satisfaction with teachers. What criteria will be applied by the Teaching Council to determine the fitness or capacity of a teacher to be effective? Will comparative results be used? What sanctions will be employed other than being removed from the register? I will return to the matter later in the debate.

When my children were going through school and subsequently college, we were blessed with excellent teachers. However, in one instance all the students who were getting honours in other classes did consistently badly in one subject over a period of years. The view was that the teacher was not up to the job, despite the best will in the world. Such a situation is unfair to students who depend on a good education for success in their future career and in life. Could the Minister please clarify the position when she replies to the debate?

Fianna Fáil welcomes the mandatory part of the registration process for Garda vetting. That is essential and is long overdue. It will also give the council the power to retrospectively require the vetting ofregistered teachers and to have periodic re-vetting of registered teachers. This means registered teachers who have never been vetted by the Garda, as well as those who have not been vetted in a long time, will be subject to the Teaching Council’s vetting process in the future.

The figures reveal that approximately 40% of the 90,000 registered teachers have yet to be Garda vetted. The vetting arrangements will, in addition to the existing check for criminal offences, also include a check for any relevant soft information. This is referred to as specified information that leads to a bona fide belief that a person poses a threat to children or vulnerable persons. When she replies, could the Minister clarify how the system will operate in practice. It strikes me as an area where it would be very difficult to discern the potential risk, unless a person has previously offended and it is common for people who offend to be cunning. Will records be maintained of the vetting process and will the information be reviewed in the event of a teacher subsequently offending? Will there be accountability for the performance of the Teaching Council in terms of rechecking the information?

Teachers may within 21 days apply to the High Court. That is a very costly process and not very many people can afford to go to court, unless they are very wealthy. That is due to the failure of the Government and previous Governments to tackle exorbitant legal fees, despite the prompting of the troika and various other bodies over many years. Could we not have a more effective system in place which would not involve such a prohibitive cost for teachers?

Complainants must be willing to engage with an investigation. Would that pose difficulties for parents, for example, who may have concerns about subsequent repercussions for their child in a school, in particular with an individual teacher, by virtue of signalling unhappiness with a teacher?

The Minister pointed out in the context of section 6 that a person employed as a teacher in a recognised school should not be remunerated out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas where a person is not a registered teacher, or where a person is removed or suspended from the register. That would seem to imply that non-registered teachers may be working in the system who are perhaps financed from some other source. Could the Minister clarify the position in that regard? If my interpretation is correct it would mean teachers who are not vetted are in the system, which would be unacceptable.