John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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273. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will intervene to resolve the Droichead/INTO issue (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30929/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Teaching Council is the statutory body with responsibility for professional standards at all stages of the teaching career. In that context, it has established standards for post-qualification professional practice, as set out in, Droichead, the new model of induction for newly qualified primary and post-primary teachers. The model ensures that the same standards and requirements apply to all teachers who have gained conditional registration with the Teaching Council. Droichead was the subject of a three-year pilot before it was approved by the Teaching Council in March 2016.

The growth and development phase of Droichead commenced in September 2016 and by 2018 the Droichead model will be available to all newly qualified teachers to enable them to gain full registration with the Teaching Council. As part of the growth phase, the Council indicated that from September 2016, newly qualified teachers in mainstream settings may complete probation in the traditional manner, through the completion of a period of satisfactory service in a school and through the demonstration of professional competence in a school setting. The evaluation of professional competence is conducted by the Inspectorate.

However, probation by the Inspectorate will not be possible in a special education or restricted setting but teachers in these setting can avail of the Droichead process to gain full registration with the Council.

The INTO issued a directive to its members not to co-operate with or participate in Droichead or any form of probation or induction that does not include fully external evaluation for all NQTs, with effect from 1 July 2016. Their action will impact on the induction/probation process for NQTs in special education settings with effect from September 2016.

I wish to inform the Deputy that under the recent pay measures agreed with the INTO for new entrant teachers there will be an immediate time-bound engagement involving the relevant parties to resolve issues with the teacher induction process (Droichead), including issues giving rise to the current union directive on non-cooperation. I would therefore encourage the INTO to engage with the Teaching Council as the statutory professional standards body for teaching to clarify the concerns that it has about Droichead.