Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 July 2013
371. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he will take during the next academic year to ensure that all teaching positions in primary schools whether temporary, permanent or substitute will be filled by a fully qualified teacher. [32119/13]
View answerMy Department's position is that only qualified and registered teachers should be employed by schools. This is set out most recently to schools in Circular Letter 31/2011. Current recruitment procedures direct schools to ensure that teachers proposed for appointment to publicly paid posts must be registered with the Teaching Council and have qualifications appropriate to the sector and suitable to the post for which they are proposed. The Teaching Council was established under the Teaching Council Act 2001 as the regulator of the teaching profession. The Council promotes professional standards in teaching. The Education (Amendment) Act 2012 was enacted on 23 May 2012. This Act provides for a number of education-related matters, including provision to enable the implementation of Section 30 of the Teaching Council Act, 2001 which I intend to commence on the 1st November 2013. This will prohibit payment from public funds of people employed as teachers in recognised school's unless they are registered with the Teaching Council except for very limited, exceptional and short- term circumstances which will be set out in Ministerial Regulations. This provision which is outlined in Circular 25/13 reinforces the Department's longstanding position that education in recognised schools funded by the State must be delivered by appropriately qualified teachers.
