Teaching CouncilThe Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D., took the opportunity during his speech at the INTO Annual Congress in Cork this morning to announce that Section 30 of the Teaching Council Act 2001 will be fully implemented from November 1st 2013. Seomra Ranga reported last July that the Education Amendment Act 2012 had been passed which made provision for, inter alia, the commencement of Section 30 of the Teaching Council Act. At that time, it was reported that this section was due to be implemented in the following term. So, a year later than expected, this vital element of the Teaching Council Act will commence.

From November 1st, Section 30 of the Teaching Council Act will require everyone in publicly funded teaching posts to be registered with the Teaching Council in order to be paid from the Exchequer. Any teacher who is not registered with the Teaching Council at that point will have their salary stopped (as it will be unlawful for the DES to pay an unregistered person) and it is my understanding that they will not be paid from State funds until they are registered with the Teaching Council. It also may mean that teachers who have their pay stopped will not be eligible for arrears of pay after they do become registered.

The Teaching Council has referred to the announcement by the Minister as “a truly significant day in leading teaching to a new era of professionalism”. It is urging teachers who are not registered to apply for registration as soon as possible in order to allow sufficient time for the processing of applications, including Garda Vetting, prior to the commencement of Section 30 in November, to avoid any loss of salary.