The Teaching Council: An Overview

Recently we saw the first disciplinary hearing come before the Teaching Council since its establishment.

The Teaching Council is the regulatory body for Teachers in Ireland and in essence, mirrors the disciplinary procedures in place for the medical profession.  It is tasked with investigating complaints and where necessary, holding public inquiries in respect of more serious complaints made against Teachers. Any person can make a complaint about a registered Teacher including, parents, students or indeed other Teachers. The Teaching Council will generally only investigate complaints where the event took place on or after 25th July 2016 and it can only consider complaints against registered Teachers.

The range of complaints that the Teaching Council can consider include complaints regarding:

• Behaviour that constitutes professional misconduct
• Poor professional performance
• Engaging in conduct contrary to the Code of Professional Conduct
• The Teacher is medically unfit to teach
• The Teacher has been convicted of a certain offence

Complaints can be made by completing the complaint form which can be downloaded online at www.teachingcouncil.ie. Once submitted, the complaint is first reviewed by the Director of the Teaching Council who may refer it to the Investigating Committee. The Director will refuse the complaint if it is not completed properly or accompanied by the relevant documentation therefore, it is vital to take the time to complete all aspects of the form carefully.

If the Director refers the complaint to the Investigating Committee, they will send a copy of the complaint to the Teacher involved who will be given an opportunity to respond to the complaint in writing.

Once the Investigating Committee has looked into the complaint it can either:

• Refer all or part of the complaint to the Disciplinary Committee for an inquiry (this will only occur if the complaint is of a serious nature) or;
• Decide no further action is required (there is no right to appeal the decision of the Investigating Committee)

The Investigating Committee generally aims to have decision made within 6-9 months of receiving a complaint.

If an inquiry is subsequently held by the Disciplinary Committee, it will take the form of an oral hearing. The hearing will be held in public unless the Committee finds it would be inappropriate to do so on the basis of the potential disclosure of personal matters.

If the Disciplinary Committee finds that the complaint is proven, it can impose a range of sanctions on a Teacher including the placing of conditions on the Teacher’s registration, suspend the Teacher for a period of time or remove the Teacher from the register. A teacher can appeal sanctions imposed to the High Court.

Whilst the Teaching Council is an avenue of recourse for parents and students, it is important that the school’s internal procedures regarding complaints against Teachers are first exhausted as in most cases, the Teaching Council will not investigate a complaint unless it can be shown that efforts were made to resolve the matter at local level with the school Principal and/or the Board of Management.

The Teaching Council has recently stated that the investigation and processing of complaints is about improving teaching and not punishing teachers which is welcomed and will hopefully ensure that Teachers, as professionals, will promote and practice high professional standards in our classrooms.

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact Cantillons Solicitors, 38/39 South Mall, Cork on 021-4275673 or info@cantillons.com as soon as possible.

* In contentious business, a Solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or any award or settlement.