asked the Minister for Education if he will state whether his Department have received representations from I.N.T.O. with reference to the appointment of a woman teacher to the Protestant national school at Booterstown, County Dublin; whether the vacancy was advertised; whether a standing regulation of his Department has been broken in this case, and, if so, on what grounds; and, further, if he will give details of the case put forward by I.N.T.O. in this matter, and indicate what action he proposes to take.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Booterstown School Appointment.
I have received representations from I.N.T.O. in regard to the appointment of a woman principal teacher on the staff of the Protestant national school at Booterstown, County Dublin. There is no official onus on a manager of any national school to advertise a vacancy on the staff of the school and the vacancy in question was not, I understand, advertised. The rules and regulations for national schools are not statutory but are administrative in character. Except in the case of a rule which is absolutely mandatory the Department has always reserved to itself the right to exercise discretion in regard to the application of any of these rules in individual cases. The regulation to which the Deputy refers has been departed from in literally hundreds of cases where the circumstances warranted such a departure. The burden of the case put forward by I.N.T.O. appears to be that a man should be appointed to the post because they claim there are very few similar posts available to Protestant men teachers.
In connection with the matter generally I wish to explain that the manager is the person charged with the direct government of a national school and that when he makes proposals to my Department in regard to the staffing of his school the greatest possible weight is attached to the considerations put forward by him.
In the present instant the manager when proposing a woman teacher for appointment referred to the type of pupil attending the school, the fact that the vast majority of the pupils are either girls or junior boys; that only three of the boys in attendance are over 12 years of age and that the school has for years been conducted most successfully by an all female staff. Except for a period of 15 months when a male assistant teacher was on the staff the school has been staffed for over 30 years by an all female staff.
It was because of these considerations that my Department sanctioned the continued appointment of a woman principal in the school.
I am fully satisfied that the action of my Department in sanctioning the appointment was the correct one and that no further action is called for.
Can the Minister say was there no man as applicant for this position or was no man recommended for it?
In so far as it was not advertised, there was no question of an application. The manager selected the person he appointed from the existing staff in the school.
Is it not true to say that the person appointed was a relative of the de Valera family and that that was the reason——
We knew that was coming. More dirt and more filth.
It is not filth. It is a statement of fact.
Take your oath on that, too.
The Deputy's character is established for all time.
It is jobbery.
Deputy Flanagan is needlessly interrupting. He has been interrupting for the last half hour. I cannot but take a note of it.
I was only anxious to point out——
Dry up!
——that is how she got the job.
I should like to say the appointment was made as a normal function of my Department without any reference to me. I had no knowledge of the identity of the person or the fact of the appointment being made until it appeared in a Sunday newspaper.
It is a de Valera appointment. Everybody knows that.
The Deputy is dealing in stink.
I am not dealing in stink. It was a de Valera appointment.
Question No. 77.