Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Teaching Council Acts 2001-2015 the Teaching Council is the body with statutory authority and responsibility for the regulation of the teaching profession in Ireland including the registration of teachers in the State.

The Teaching Council registers teachers in line with the requirements set out in the Teaching Council Act 2001-2015 and the Teaching Council (Registration) Regulations 2016 to 2021. The EU Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive (2013/55/EC) seeks to facilitate the free movement of professionals within the EU. In accordance with the Directive, people who are deemed fully qualified as teachers in one EU member state are entitled to have their qualifications recognised in all other member states. This recognition may be granted subject to conditions to ensure that the qualifications are of a comparable standard to those achieved by graduates of accredited programmes in Ireland. The Teaching Council apply this to teachers qualified in other jurisdictions also.

In 2020, the Teaching Council amended its Registration Regulations for a limited timeframe due to the Covid 19 pandemic, to provide for teachers who qualified overseas to complete their post-qualification induction in Ireland, rather than in the country in which their teaching qualification was obtained.

The Teaching Council (Registration) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 were signed in to law on May 30th, providing for the Council to extend the 2020 emergency measures related to the registration of teachers in order to manage the ongoing impact of the pandemic, to October 2021.