Ms Siobhán Healy:

As part of the registration process, we ensure that teachers meet our qualification requirements and provide evidence of character standards. When teachers return to the register, whether or not they have been on it before, we check their qualifications to make sure they are in line and any applicants who have resided outside Ireland for 12 months or more must provide police clearance from the country in which they resided. Yes, we look for criminal checks as well as looking at the qualifications.