O’Keeffe judgment is disappointing but not surprising

FOR many parents, students and the general public, it sounds odd that the Minister for Education has no responsibility in law for the actions of the tens of thousands of teachers whose salaries he pays every year, and whose pensions he funds with taxpayers’ money.

It is more unbelievable, doubtless, for someone like Louise O’Keeffe who felt betrayed by the Government department which set down the rules for teachers, including her own principal Leo Hickey who abused her as a young girl at her school near Kinsale, Co Cork, in the 1970s.

Only this month, the Department of Education, teacher unions and school management bodies signed off on new procedures in relation to teacher conduct as well as their competence in the classroom.