The first steps towards establishing a national teaching council were taken at a meeting in Dublin yesterday between the Minister for Education and Science, Mr Martin, and leading figures in Irish education. Yesterday's meeting at Dublin Castle was the inaugural gathering of a steering group, which is expected to report by next March and provide the basis for the drafting of legislation.
Dr Seamus McGuinness, chairman of the group set up to produce a report leading to the establishment of the council, said it was "a real opportunity for teachers to establish their own profession on a very clear and sound basis".
He expects the steering group to meet weekly. "We need to establish the forum, the function and the role and the activity of a teaching council, covering both primary and post-primary teachers."
The council will examine profession development issues and define standards of good practice, he said.
Prof John Coolahan of the Department of Education at St Patrick's College, Maynooth, a member of the group, said the council would be "advising the Minister on research issues and on teacher supply".
It would also have an important role in accrediting courses for teachers. The council would decide on standards and requirements of entry into the profession.
"We have to drive on the process and get to the core issues," Mr Martin said. "We do intend to move forward with legislation. The political will is there to see the realisation of this objective. We have to proceed on the basis of partnership."
Mr Martin said a teaching council would safeguard the teaching profession. It will be "a common body for the recognition of teachers at first and second level".
It will also ensure "structures that will copperfasten and guarantee the status of the teacher in Irish society". It will be "the means of regulating the profession to the highest standards".
He also promised to make the necessary resources available to the steering group.
The chairman, Dr McGuinness, is attached to the Department of Education and Educational Research at TCD. Other members include the three teacher unions, Gaelscoileanna, both the National Parents Council (Primary) and the National Parents Council (PostPrimary), the Church of Ireland Board of Education and the Catholic Primary Schools Managers Association. A technical working group will assist the stering group.
Mr John White, assistant general secretary of the ASTI, said a teaching council would be an important development.
"We have been trying to establish this for the past 20 years," he said. It would be "a major contributor in maintaining and developing the status and morale of teachers", he added.
Sister Eileen Randles, general secretary of the Catholic Primary Secondary Managers' Association, another member of the group, said: "We have supported the setting up of this council for quite a number of years. We are hoping that all the issues are addressed and that we will have a teaching council in the near future," she said.
The role of the council was now particularly valid in the light of the increased level of mobility of people and the enormous number of applications to teach in Ireland, which have quadrupled in recent years, he added.