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

Section 46B was introduced as an amendment on Committee Stage in the Seanad to provide for the publication of certain information on the outcomes of fitness-to-teach inquiries. This amendment to 46B sets out in a clearer manner the provisions in relation to the circumstances in which the council shall inform the public of such information. It provides that the council shall, where satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so, advise the public in the following circumstances when, on foot of a fitness-to-teach inquiry, a decision takes effect to remove a teacher from the register, suspend a teacher from the register, retain the teacher on the register subject to conditions, or advise, admonish or censure a teacher, or where a similar decision taken in another state comes to the attention of the council. Section 46B also provides that the council shall, where satisfied that it is in the public interest to do so and following consultation with the disciplinary committee, publish decisions made by a panel following a fitness-to-teach inquiry and, where there has been a finding against the teacher, publish that finding.

I indicated at Committee Stage in this House that I intended, subject to legal advices and compatibility with the National Vetting Bureau Act 2012, to further amend section 46B to include provision for the publication of reports and transcripts in the case of complaints made by the council on foot of information in a vetting disclosure. However, I have decided not to bring forward this amendment.

In addition, section 46B had previously included provision for the publication of reports and transcripts of inquiry proceedings. Having reviewed this provision, which went further than is provided for in other regulated professions, I have now decided to remove it. In doing so, I am satisfied that the provisions of this section, as now worded, along with the Bill's separate provisions in relation to the hearing of inquiries in public, will ensure that the public can have confidence in the transparency of the procedures that follow from the Bill's provisions.