‘Fitness to teach’ hearings won’t be excessively legalistic

Education Minister Richard Bruton has promised that new “fitness to practise” hearings by the Teaching Council will not be excessively legalistic, the Irish Independent reports.

A new mechanism allowing the Teaching Council to adjudicate on complaints related to the professional conduct of teachers was introduced yesterday.

Complaints will continue to be initially dealt with at a school level.

Teachers could face a hearing on grounds of professional misconduct, poor professional performance, convictions and medical fitness.

But Mr Bruton has said that hearings for teachers will not be lucrative events for lawyers like those for nurses, doctors and solicitors.

He added: “I think the Teaching Council in its approach to the way it handles, the way it screens decisions, the way it brings them to the final disciplinary committee, they will put in place procedures that makes it easy for members of the public to use this system.

“We all want to see a system that is accessible to people, that fair and natural justice must prevail. The determination will be to avoid excess legalistic approaches in the council.”