Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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712. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if Australian teaching qualifications held by Irish emigrant citizens are recognised by the State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63704/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Teaching Council Act 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. 

It is a function of the Council under the Teaching Council Acts (s7(2)) to act as the competent authority for recognition of qualifications obtained by a person who has applied under this Act for registration as a teacher.

Fully qualified teachers who have qualified outside of the Republic of Ireland are eligible to apply for registration with the Teaching Council. All applications from teachers who qualified abroad are processed in line with EU Directive 2005/36/EC and are assessed in the same manner, regardless of whether they qualified within or outside the EU. All applications are individually assessed.

A person deemed to be a fully qualified teacher:

- has completed a recognised teacher education qualification and programme of induction in the country in which they qualified, and

- can provide an official letter from the relevant teacher registration body / Competent Authority or Ministry of Education confirming recognition as a fully qualified teacher in the State/country.

In accordance with EU Directive 2005/36/EC, the qualifications of teachers who qualified outside of the ROI are assessed to ensure they are of a comparable standard to those achieved by graduates of accredited programmes in Ireland. Where significant differences arise, conditions (qualification shortfalls) will be applied to the teacher's registration.

There are three stages to the assessment process. These are (1) Application (2) Assessment and (3) Registration.

As outlined on the Teaching Council website, applications from those who qualified outside of Ireland can take up to 12 weeks to process from the date of receipt of all required documentation. This timeline adheres to EU Directive 2005/36.

Application Guidelines and a detailed description of the application process for applicants with qualifications obtained outside Ireland are available on the Teaching Council website.