“The appointment of a convicted IRA spy as vice-principal at St Mary’s College in Londonderry caused me to table a me to table a number of questions to the Minister of Education on the issue.

 

“I am appalled to learn that no one seems to either know or care how many people with criminal convictions are currently teaching in our schools.

 

“Teachers are supposed to be role models for children and those pupils can look up to and respect. Yet, in Northern Ireland, the appointment of someone who was told by the judge at her trial that he was satisfied she would “never be employed in the United Kingdom as a teacher” is blithely accepted – and no wonder when the Education Ministry is held by a party which continues to justify actions like collecting information useful to terrorists, of which Miss McLauglin was convicted in the late 1990s.

 

“I believe that this laissez-faire attitude will shock people across Northern Ireland. Given the sensitive, mind shaping role of teachers it is essential that this policy is changed in order to increase public confidence in the education system.”

 

Mr Allister’s question and the answer received are as follows:

 

To ask the Minister of Education how many currently employed teachers have served a prison sentence.

 

Neither the Department of Education nor the Employing Authorities hold this information.

 

The AccessNI Code of Practice and Explanatory Guide stipulates that, once a recruitment decision has been made, an employer must not retain Disclosure Information or any associated correspondence for longer than is necessary. In general this should be for a maximum of six months.