Parents worry vetting not applied to all teachers

PARENTS are concerned that proposed background checks on new school staff might not be applied to existing teachers.

Talks are set to begin in the next few weeks on procedures for vetting all staff at primary and secondary level. However, the country’s 45,000-plus school teachers may not have to be checked by gardaí for criminal convictions.

But the National Parents Council (primary) believes existing teachers should be subject to the same vetting procedures as all new staff.

“It might be difficult to do but it would be reassuring for parents, particularly in light of recent events in England,” said spokesperson Peter Cox.

“It would be good if the Department of Education ensured the people working with our children are the right ones and that there would be a vetting procedure in place for everybody,” he said.

The ISPCC warned Irish children are vulnerable to a Soham-like tragedy unless vetting procedures are improved. Paul Gilligan, the society’s director, said it was welcome that moves were being made to vet school staff but he would prefer if they included people already working in education.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation general secretary John Carr said there is no need for his 22,000 members to be checked as they are known to their boards of management and have been interviewed according to

established procedures.

A Department of Education spokesperson stressed it has not yet been decided who will be checked but that will form part of the discussions.

They will involve officials from the department, gardaí, school management organisations, teachers unions and other interest groups. The department has already asked the Department of Justice’s crime division for observations on the issue.

George O’Callaghan, general secretary of the Joint Managerial Body representing boards of most of the country’s 750 secondary schools, said checks on existing staff could create difficulties.

“It would be unfair to existing employees to turn around and do background checks on them now. It might be reassuring to parents but teachers are already known to their own management boards,” he said.

A spokesperson for secondary teachers’ union ASTI said they had no formal policy on the issue of vetting teachers but that they would favour any system that would help to ensure the safety of children.

However, she said they would have some concern from a civil liberties point of view, as to the type of information the gardaí would provide.

The scheme in place since last April for vetting prospective supervisors being brought into schools because of the ASTI dispute is continuing ahead of schools returning next week.

Any candidates for the jobs must allow management boards run a check on them with gardaí for any criminal convictions.