Vol. 563 No. 4
333 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Education and Science further to Parliamentary Question No. 529 of 29 January 2003, the further progress which has been made in relation to the enactment of the Teaching Council Act, 2001; if the regulations mentioned provided for the first elections to the council have been finalised; the sections that he intends to include in the first tranche to be commenced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8181/03]
My Department has been working with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government on the drafting of the regulations under which the elections to the first teaching council will take place. The drafting process is now nearing completion and I intend to have the regulations circulated to the education partners in the near future for their views before finalising them. Once the regulations have been finalised the next stage of the process in setting up the council will be to conduct the elections. A clear period of up to ten weeks will be required from announcement of the elections to actually holding them. This will enable people to seek nominations and to canvass for election. Since it will not be possible to complete this process before the summer school holidays and it would be inappropriate to carry it on during the holidays, I intend to commence it as early as possible in the new school year with a view to having the council in place early next year.
