Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 172: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the action, in chronological order, she, her Department or the North South Ministerial Council have taken for North-South co-operation in relation to teacher qualifications and exchanges; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5754/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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This is an important area for North South co-operation in my Department and I look forward to continuing to work closely with my counterparts in Northern Ireland to ensure that the maximum benefit is gained by teachers in Ireland and Northern Ireland through close cooperation and exchange of best practice in the continuing professional development of teachers. In 2000 a Joint Teacher Qualifications Working Group was established under the auspices of the North South Ministerial Council to examine a range of issues related to teacher mobility.

A key area considered as an obstacle to cross border teacher mobility from North to South was the issue of the Irish language requirement for recognition as a primary teacher. Since 2000, significant changes have been made to the requirements for proficiency in the Irish language in respect of teaching posts. Since 2003 the Standing Conference on Teacher Education North and South (SCoTENS) has been funded by the two Education Departments, North and South, and the Department of Employment and Learning. SCoTENS provides support for all-island conferences on social, scientific and environmental education, initial teacher education, citizenship education and special educational needs and for North/South research projects on continuing professional development and on profound and multiple learning difficulties.

The Special Educational Needs Cross Border Professional Exchange Programme, supported by the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the Border Region of Ireland (Peace II) enabled teachers, principals and educational psychologists, from Northern Ireland and the border counties, to participate in professional exchanges. The project, which resulted in the production of resources being distributed to schools — North and South, ended in 2006. My Department and the Regional Training Unit in the North collaborated on North/South leadership conferences over a three year period. Most recently in 2007 a two day conference was held in Cavan. Under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the two Education Departments North and South jointly hosted a conference on School Leadership Development Strategies in November 2007.