THE Employment Equality Bill has been described as "a slap in the face" to teachers by the general secretary of the INTO, Mr Joe O'Toole.
Mr O'Toole said that the members of the INTO found it "incomprehensible" that church and state should now "collude in a piece of legislation which effectively implies that the teachers of Ireland can no longer be trusted to respect and protect the ethos and beliefs of their pupils
The general secretary was responding to a speech by the Minister for Education, Ms Breathnach, on the second day of the INTO Congress in Killarney. "This Bill is a slap in the face to conscientious, honest and scrupulously careful teachers," he said, promising that the INTO would "defend and fight to our last resources on behalf of any teacher whose private life or beliefs are being used as a vehicle to discriminate against them".
The Minister did not address the subject of the Bill directly in her speech but afterwards she said that "a harmonious interpretation of the different rights" had been sought. "Partnership works if there is the harmonious interpretation of our rights," she said. "I still feel that with partnership and without any one side or two sides dominating another side that that partnership will be achieved."
In his speech to Congress, Ms Breathnach concentrated on the provisions of the Education Bill. "Primary teachers will have, for the first time ever, a real say in the planning of education in the future," she said, pointing to the role of teachers on the education boards, the boards of management and the preparation of local education plans.
On the issue of resources and targeting disadvantage, the Minister pointed to the "Early Start" and "Breaking the Cycle" schemes, which she described as a "long-term investment in our children". She defended her Department's record of investment in the education system, which she said had benefited from an increase in investment of £700 million over the last four years.
Ms Breathnach also confirmed the retention of 600 primary teaching posts which had been under threat from declining pupil numbers and said that she would discuss the allocation of the remainder of the demographic dividend in the coming weeks.
The Minister also reiterated her intention to establish a committee to examine the development of a teacher council. Her failure to establish such a council under the Education Bill had been criticised by teachers.
But Mr O'Toole rejected the committee's proposal as insufficient. He said the INTO had already sent the Minister a detailed Bill for the establishment of a teacher council. "Let's forget the committee or have the committee in parallel," he said. "Just add our Bill to yours. We offer it to you for free.
He said the retention of 600 teacher places under the demographic dividend was not seen by the INTO as a victory, but as simply "standing still". He warned of a shortage of teachers, particularly in light of the unexpected increase in the annual birth rate in 1996 to over 50,000, 4,000 more than had been anticipated.
Mr O'Toole said that if the birth rate continued at this level, it would require 1,000 more teachers than are available. He called for an increase in teacher numbers to meet this potential demand and the demand for substitute, remedial and home-school liaison teachers.
Mr O'Toole described the investment in primary schools as "a pittance" and said that primary parents are now required to make "huge contributions" to the upkeep of their schools. "Free primary education is getting more and more expensive by the day and we are in breach of the Constitution," he said, pointing out the disparity in funding which left post-primary schools with four times the level of grant funding received by the primary sector.
He criticised the "rotten substandard condition" of many school buildings and accused the "Celtic Tiger" of starving its young of resources. "There is something utterly wrong about that," Mr O'Toole said.