Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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I apologise for having missed some of the meeting but I had another committee meeting at the same time. I thank the witnesses for attending. A lot of the comments I receive from people regarding the Teaching Council come from people who have left teaching for a period, some having worked abroad in teaching and others not necessarily in teaching, along with some who have left teaching, gone on to pursue other careers such as journalism and sought to go back teaching. Due to issues relating to time with reregistering, they have missed out on getting places. Those are the areas I am most concerned about. What is the average turnaround time for reregistration of teachers who have qualified but are returning from abroad, those who have been pursuing other careers and are seeking to teach once again, and those with qualifications from abroad who are coming back to teach? There are three elements there.

On that, somebody contacted me to say they had completed their academic qualifications abroad but we were trying to get clarity about the fact that during Covid, apparently, those who had qualified abroad could come back without the prerequisite of having done their practical teaching placement and could do it in Ireland.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, we tried to get clarity on whether those who qualified abroad could come back without the prerequisite of having done their practical teaching placement and could do it in Ireland. Is that still the case or has the council reverted to pre-Covid-19 pandemic regulations?