New teachers caught in vetting bind, claims TUI
Speaking at the final day of the TUI annual conference in Galway, general secretary John MacGabhann said this will happen unless Justice Minister Alan Shatter engages with stakeholders and ensures that vetting requirements for teachers are introduced in a manner that allows schools to make appointments.
“From the date of the commencement of section 12 of this act, a new appointee to a school will be required to have a vetting clearance through the National Vetting Bureau. Clearance obtained up to now, through the Garda Central Vetting Unit, will not suffice.
“Therefore, as nobody, at that point in time will have been vetted by the National Vetting Bureau, it will not be possible for schools to make appointments.”
Mr MacGabhann said the TUI was committed to ensuring the highest standard of vetting for teachers but the new legislation was “unworkable” in this regard.
He said the act bypassed years of work by trade unions, management, and the Department of Education, which had established a vetting system overseen by the Teaching Council, which he said had a “stringent standard”.
However, Mr Shatter said the suggestion that vetting only be done by the Teaching Council was “unworkable” as the act requires the prospective employer to obtain a copy of a vetting disclosure. He reiterated that 42,000 teachers who were employed by schools before Children First guidelines were implemented will require vetting retrospectively.
Meanwhile, the TUI hit out at the “sustained attack” by the Government on pay and conditions of new entrants to teaching and lecturing. Delegates heard that the starting salary of a new entrant to teaching since Feb 2012 is 28% less than in Dec 2010.
A motion was passed to embark on a “sustained campaign” in collaboration with other teaching unions to achieve a single, common, basic salary structure that reflects a level of pay, inclusive of allowances, that is no less than those who entered teaching in prior to 2011.
