Jonathan O'Brien
Question:145. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans for new laws that will monitor teacher performance. [2340/14]
View answerTuesday, 21 January 2014
Questions (145)
Written answers
The Teaching Council is the body with statutory authority, under the Teaching Council Act 2001, for the professional regulation of teachers.
Part 5 of the Teaching Council Act 2001 makes provision for the Council to conduct inquiries into a teacher's Fitness to Teach. I intend to commence Part 5 later this year. Government approval was given on 10th December for drafting The Teaching Council (Amendment) Bill to provide for a wider range of sanctions such as advice, admonishment and censure, which may be applied by the Council following an inquiry.
The Deputy may also be aware that procedures were introduced in 2009 under the Education Act (Section 24) for schools and Education and Training Boards (then VECs), as employers, to address teacher competence issues. Generally speaking it will be necessary for these procedures to be exhausted before investigation by the Teaching Council under Part 5.