Dr. Lynn Ramsey:

I thank the Senator. I will start and I will bring in my colleagues to respond to certain details the Senator has described. The teaching crisis is something we are live to and of which we are mindful. At the highest level, there are procedural pieces we have adjusted to take account of the teaching supply crisis. We have taken account of changes to our regulation. We have also done large pieces on the communications side. I might start with some of those processes, the regulation piece and the communications piece before we get into the specifics of the three examples about which the Senator talked.

In terms of adjustments to our processes and procedures, we have brought in the new route 5 to bring student teachers from undergraduate curriculums into the teaching profession, as appropriate, once they are in years three or four.

Those students may, if they choose, apply to come onto the register if they are in appropriate programmes. We also introduced a time-bound regulation, which is close to the area the Senator was talking about and which during the Covid period allowed teachers who had completed an appropriate qualification outside Ireland to come to Ireland to do their induction at that point. That regulation closed in February of this year. The council is now at an advanced stage of reviewing whether an additional regulation amendment could be developed, consistent with the teaching supply demographic data. That would allow us a two-year time-bound piece. That is at an advanced stage of planning.

We also introduced a bespoke process for qualified teachers from Ukraine who came here under the EU protection directive. That is a separate process just for those teachers. We did an extensive review of our qualification assessment processes - a two stage review Ms Murphy can take the committee through in more detail - which reduced timelines for the review of teachers who qualified outside of the Republic of Ireland.

We have a streamlined process, which works very efficiently to bring newly qualified teachers, NQTs, straight onto the register. That process works seamlessly. We have taken another range of measures - for example, bringing on NQTs and allowing them to undertake their induction on supply panels. That takes place in the context of primary programmes or principal supply panels in the case of primary.

In terms of specific subjects, we prioritise the accreditation of programmes which are in short supply, such as home economics. We also did a review of subject requirements. There is quite a range of processes and practical pieces.

On the communications side, we did a whole review of our website with a view to improving the clarity of communications. We worked with the National Adult Literacy Agency to improve the clarity of what is required for teachers who want to come onto the register and so on. There are a number of different aspects there.

In terms of the specific points the Senator raised and the induction piece he spoke about of a teacher who qualified outside of Ireland, the initial Covid piece is closed, as it was a time-bound piece. As I mentioned, the council is now at an advanced stage of developing a new regulation that would be aligned to the teaching supply demographics.