Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 112: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the steps she proposes to take to advance the mutual recognition of primary school teaching qualifications on the island of Ireland in the context of the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement in order to enable persons trained and qualified as primary school teachers in Northern Ireland to be accepted as primary school teachers in the Republic and for primary school teachers trained and qualified in the Republic to be fully accepted as primary school teachers in the North; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21600/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Teachers registered in Northern Ireland are currently eligible for registration as teachers with the Teaching Council subject to conditions relating to the Irish language requirement and probation.

Holders of provisional recognition must meet the Irish Language requirement in order to be granted full recognition to teach in mainstream classes in national schools. In addition, they must provide certification that they have attended an approved course in the Gaeltacht.

In the case of graduates of St. Mary's College, the language requirement does not arise provided students have successfully completed the Irish language stream of that course.

Prior to the establishment of the Teaching Council in Ireland, my Department had traditionally granted provisional recognition to teachers who qualify in Northern Ireland and who are awarded "qualified teacher status" by the Department of Education in Northern Ireland (DENI) and registration by the General Teaching Council of Northern Ireland (GTCNI). Functions relating to recognition and registration of teachers have since transferred to the Teaching Council, which was established on a statutory footing in March 2006.

From its establishment on 28 March 2006 to 31 March 2007, a total of 58 applications from Northern Ireland registered teachers were processed by the Teaching Council. A further 25 applications have been received/processed for the period 1 April 2007 to the 28 September 2007.

The issue of the teacher mobility and qualifications is one of four specific areas of cooperation agreed between my Department and the Department of Education in Northern Ireland.

The next Education Sectoral Meeting will take place in November 2007. The issue of how best to take forward issues in respect of teachers' qualifications in order to facilitate cross-border mobility will be discussed, taking into the account the establishment of the relevant Teaching Councils in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The Irish Teaching Council has a statutory responsibility to cooperate with its equivalent organization in the North (the GTCNI) and there is an ongoing relationship between the two bodies. I would expect that the issue of mutual recognition between the Republic and the North will be advanced in this context into the future.

Further, under the EU Directives for the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications, provisions are made whereby professionals qualified in one (home) Member State can seek professional recognition of their qualifications in another (host) Member State for the purpose of practising their profession in that host Member State. These Directives apply only where the profession is regulated in the host Member State, as teaching is in both Ireland and Northern Ireland.