That is fine. The proposed amendments are not accepted. Amendments Nos. 1, 9 and 14 are rejected as there is no question of the abolition of the Teaching Council. Education is at the heart of this Government's ambition to build a more cohesive, equal and successful society and economy, and teachers are at the heart of education. The Teaching Council has a central role in delivering on the education reform agenda in ensuring that we have quality teachers to meet the challenges ahead. The full implementation of the Teaching Council Act, when possible, will support a cohesive framework of teacher education, professionalism and registration based on quality inputs across the whole continuum of teacher education. It is hoped to commence the few but critically important remaining sections as soon as is practicable.
The Teaching Council's work directly impacts on the attainment of the strategic high-level goals of the Department of Education and Skills. It has a central role in effecting the change necessary for implementation, for example, of the literacy and numeracy strategy, junior cycle reform and requirements for robust teacher induction processes. Its statutory responsibilities of maintaining, promoting and improving standards of teaching are key to supporting the Department's priority of improving the quality, relevance and inclusiveness of education for every learner in our schools.
As the professional standards body for the teaching profession, the Teaching Council seeks to set and uphold high professional standards for teaching and teachers. It does this in the interests of pupils and the public good but equally for the reputation and status of the profession. Quality of teaching has been determined as the single most influential factor towards achieving good educational outcomes for students. The work of the council is focused towards the maintenance and improvement of the standards of teaching.
Developments that have taken place or are under way include: developing and implementing a continuum of education which links the professional, education and training needs throughout all phases of a teacher's career; restructuring and extending the programmes of initial teacher education so newly qualified teachers are better equipped for the needs of the modern day classroom; reviewing and accrediting teacher education programmes; putting in place higher qualification and teacher education standards for teachers in the three sectors of primary, post-primary and further education; putting in place strict good character and Garda vetting requirements; publishing a code of professional conduct for teachers, which is currently being revised; preparing to put in place induction and probation procedures for newly qualified or registered teachers; preparing for fitness to teach procedures and processes; developing a continuing professional development framework for teachers; promoting research and engaging in debate on policy issues related to education; and enhancing the status of the profession and promoting teaching as a career. A new council has just been appointed on March 28 for a period of four years and I and my ministerial colleagues, Deputies Quinn and Cannon, look forward to working with the council to advance our common goals.
The effect of amendment No. 10 would be to require the Teaching Council to provide an up-to-date online register listing available teachers to the Minister and each vocational education committee. This would place an additional requirement on the Teaching Council to monitor the availability of registered teachers for employment, which is not appropriate to the remit of the Teaching Council. The council's role is fundamentally to regulate the teaching profession and therefore I will not be accepting this amendment.
There are already administrative arrangements in place to prioritise the appointment of unemployed registered teachers. Under Circular 31/2011, issued by the Department of Education and Skills in summer 2011, schools are required to keep a list of those appropriately qualified registered teachers who inform the school that they are available for substitute teaching work. Teachers who are in receipt of an occupational pension must be excluded from this list, thereby prioritising unemployed teachers over those in receipt of a pension. Where the school wishes to source a teacher for short-term substitution duties, the above list or national services such as SubSearch or TextaSub should be utilised to source a registered teacher who is not in receipt of an occupational pension. Only where an appropriately qualified registered teacher who is not retired is unavailable should the school move to employ an appropriately qualified and registered retired teacher. The above regulations seek to provide the greatest possible opportunity for unemployed and newly qualified teachers while safeguarding the policy of the Department, which is that, to the greatest extent possible, only appropriately qualified and registered teachers should be employed in our schools.
Amendment No. 11 seeks to ensure that a person could not be employed in place of a registered teacher without this being governed by ministerial regulation. As written, the provision states that where the Minister is satisfied that it is necessary to facilitate the urgent temporary or occasional staffing needs of recognised schools, he or she may from time to time prescribe regulations governing the circumstances in which an unregistered person may be employed in place of a registered teacher and any condition that might attach to that employment. Those conditions could relate to a maximum time limit for his or her employment and the purposes for which he or she is employed. The Act does not give the Minister discretion to do anything else through which an unregistered person could be employed in a teaching post.
Therefore, if the Minister does not make regulations specifying the circumstances in which an unregistered person may be employed, such a person cannot be employed. The Oireachtas is only permitting this to be done by regulation and not by any other instrument. Amendment No. 11 is therefore unnecessary and I do not propose to accept it.
With regard to amendment No. 12, the phrase of employing an unregistered person "in place of a registered teacher" is used in certain places in the new section 24, in subsections 8(a), 10(a) and 10(f). However, there are also references to teaching positions in subsections 9(a), 10(a) and 10(b). The reality is that in the very limited exceptions in which the employment of an unregistered person will be permitted, that person will be engaged in a teaching post. The wording is simply designed to reflect this. The fact that a person employed in such a post does not make him or her a teacher. The amendment proposed is therefore unnecessary and I do not propose to accept it.