asked the Minister for Education when she will implement the findings of the code of discipline submitted last April.
Ceisteanna-Questions. Oral Answers. - Code of Discipline.
35.
I expect shortly to lay the report of the Committee on Discipline in Schools before both Houses of the Oireachtas. The report is being published and I intend to seek the views of all the interested parties, particularly the Parents' Council. I will then give careful consideration to their views before formulating my response.
I understand that the report of the Committee on Discipline in Schools was submitted to the Minister last April. When does she expect that this report will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas? Will the consultations between the Minister and parents and other interest groups take place before the report is laid before the Houses? I would like a timescale of the proposed action.
In terms of laying the report before the House of the Oireachtas we are talking of weeks rather than months. I cannot be more precise than that. When the report is published we will embark on consultations and depending on the complexity of the subjects and on how groups respond, it would be impossible for me to put an exact timescale on this. If I did, I would be accused of putting limits on people expressing their opinions.
Is the Minister aware that in the main urban centres and in certain parts of Dublin there is a great deal of disquiet among the teaching profession because of the lack of operational efficiency of in-house disciplinary sanctions, and that there is a growing need for a defined list of sanctions? I welcome the move away from corporal punishment but there is a wish that teachers would have a clear set of defined sanctions within which they would operate. A vacuum has been created because of the lack of stated disciplinary guidelines.
I am glad the Deputy repeated that she welcomed the abolition of corporal punishment. It would not be appropriate for me to anticipate consultations with the various interested groups.
I know that but we are now into the 1985-86 school year and the Minister said that consultations will follow on the submission of the report to the House. I know how slow the process of consultation between parents, the teaching profession and all interested bodies can be, but the people involved would like to see this code of discipline and its contained sanctions ready for implementation in the school year commencing September 1986.
The Deputy is jumping to conclusions about the final report and the possible conclusions of the discussions ——
Perhaps I am, but that raises another question. Would the Minister agree that there is a clearly defined list of disciplinary sanctions which can operate in schools?
As I said, I do not intend to be drawn into pre-judging the outcome of my discussions.