Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 882: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Science if she will address the concerns of a person (details supplied) in relation to the fees payable to the Teaching Council by part-time teachers. [14556/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware the Teaching Council Act 2001 provided for the establishment of a Council for the purposes of promoting teaching as a profession, maintaining and improving the standards of teaching, providing for the establishment of standards, policies and procedures for the education and training of teachers, and other matters relating to teachers and the teaching profession.

The Council is a self-funding body and the annual registration renewal fee is payable by all registered teachers regardless of their employment status and how regularly they teach. I understand that the Council did review the level of fees payable by part time teachers and decided to leave the standard renewal fee of €90 in place. The fee is in line with that levied by other professional regulatory bodies which also do not differentiate based on frequency of usage. Tax relief can be claimed on the full €90 fee by contacting the Revenue Commissioners.