Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 22: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills how teaching principals will find the time to provide additional appropriate support and probation to newly qualified teachers when inspectors are not fulfilling this role. [14456/11]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 44: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills in view of the additional responsibility of the probation of newly qualified teachers in the primary sector being passed from inspectors to school principals, the support, training, guidelines and quality checks he proposes to implement to facilitate this change over. [14470/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 22 and 44 together.

The Teaching Council has been informed that the relevant sections of the Teaching Council Act 2001 will be commenced no later than 1 September 2012. The Council has begun to consider the procedures and criteria for the induction and probation of primary and post-primary teachers that the Council would wish to implement following their commencement.

I understand that in drafting its procedures for induction and probation, the Council plans to adopt a completely fresh approach. As the Council's discussions are currently at an exploratory stage, no decisions have yet been made on the features of the procedures and any specific role that principals will play in their implementation. Therefore, the question of simply transferring responsibility for the implementation of current probationary procedures at primary level from the Inspectorate of my Department to principals does not arise. However it is important that principals play a key role in the quality of teaching in their schools, including the work of newly qualified teachers.