Vol. 419 No. 2
52 Mr. Dukes asked the Minister for Education when a decision will be made on the application to his Department by a person (details supplied) in County Kildare for status as an eligible part-time teacher; the reason this person's application has been with his Department for over ten months without a decision being made, and if there is any outstanding information in relation to the case which is preventing his Department from reaching a decision.
The position is that the person referred to by the Deputy was appointed a substitute teacher in September 1990 for a teacher on maternity leave. This arrangement was extended until the end of the school year 1990/91 when the teacher on maternity leave went on unpaid leave of absence.
The status of the particular teacher was considered by my Department under two headings: (1) as an eligible part-time teacher and (2) as a temporary wholetime teacher.
It was not possible to grant EPT status in this case because the teacher involved was a substitute teacher.
In order to grant temporary whole-time status to any teacher my Department requires a formal proposal from the school authorities concerned, following appropriate appointment procedures. In this case no formal proposal was received and temporary whole-time status could not be granted in the circumstances.
