asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the fact that Montessori teachers who have been permanently employed in special national schools for handicapped children are being made redundant; and that such teachers are ineligible for unemployment benefit under their PRSI contributions and are further ineligible to draw their salaries or be placed on the panel as per special arrangement agreed between the Irish National Teachers Organisation, the management of Catholic diocesan schools and her Department; the steps, if any, she will take to ensure that such teachers will be guaranteed continuing employment, or unemployment benefit, in the event of redundancy; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Montessori Teachers.
240.
Teachers in all national schools are employed by the board of management of the respective schools and my Department have no part in their selection provided they are qualified for the post. Their employment is subject to the overall average enrolment. When the enrolment figure falls below a certain minimum the most junior teacher becomes redundant. Teachers who are fully qualified national teachers are eligible for placement on the diocesan panel where the patron of the school is the Ordinary of the Diocese. Montessori trained teachers are not eligible for recognition as teachers in ordinary national schools and their employment is restricted to certain categories of special schools. Teachers so recognised are not entitled to panel rights and both their employers and the teachers themselves are well aware that this is a condition of their employment.
Since I do not select teachers for employment it would not be possible for me to guarantee their employment in another school, should they become redundant in the school that hired them. Neither do I have any control over the enrolment in individual schools, which is what determines the appropriate staffing. The question of the payment of unemployment benefit is a matter for the Department of Social Welfare.