Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As Senator Reilly has said, this was discussed in the Dáil and it was also considered fully during the drafting of the legislation. Legal advice was obtained to assist in the Bill's preparation with regard to this specific issue. Arising from this consideration and our consultation with the Attorney General's office, I believe it is neither necessary nor appropriate to include the word "serious" as proposed in the amendment. The current wording is in line with similar provisions in other regulatory legislation.

There are several stages to the fitness to teach process, which will provide protection against less serious matters proceeding to an inquiry. This was a point we considered in some detail in earlier stages of the debate in light of the Corbally case, referred to by Senator Reilly. To get to the point of a hearing, there will be several examinations of the complaint. If the complaint is frivolous, vexatious, made in bad faith or an abuse of process, the director may refuse it. Subsequently, the investigating committee screens on the basis of a number of criteria and must be satisfied that there is a prima faciecase to warrant further action before referring the complaint to the disciplinary committee. The complaint will not get to the point of a hearing until various thresholds are met. Any complaint that gets to the point of a hearing will be a serious complaint. It will fall to the council, as the self-regulator of the profession, to determine which cases proceed and how they are managed. However, in doing so, the council has the benefit of established case law and the experience of other professional regulators which make clear that there must be a level of seriousness in any conduct or performance issue before a decision can be made to proceed to an inquiry and before consequential sanctions can be made against the teacher.

The Teaching Council will operate its powers under the Act in a manner that fully protects the rights of persons involved in a Part 5 process and in a manner consistent with the Supreme Court judgment in the Corbally case as well as other relevant case law and the council's legal advice. The Bill provides for appeal to the High Court on foot of decisions made following a fitness to teach inquiry, which is another important protection for teachers.

I am satisfied, therefore, that the wording as set out in the Bill is appropriate. As I said, we have consulted the Office of the Attorney General on the matter and have taken into consideration corresponding provisions in existing regulatory legislation. We have considered the union's concerns in this area. On top of what I have outlined in respect of the various processes before the process gets to a hearing, the council will be required to review the operation of the fitness to teach provisions after three years.