Written answers

Wednesday, 18 January 2023

Department of Education and Skills

Teacher Training

Photo of Michael Healy-RaeMichael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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751. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she has considered, given the shortage of teachers at present, allowing Irish students who trained in the UK to complete their induction period back in Ireland to allow them to teach in Ireland. [1280/23]

Photo of Norma FoleyNorma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Teaching Council is the professional standards body for the teaching profession, which promotes and regulates professional standards in teaching. The Teaching Council registers teachers under the Teaching Council Act 2001-2015 and in line with the Teaching Council Registration Regulations, 2016. The Council registers teachers under five routes of registration namely, Route 1 - Primary, Route 2 - Post-primary, Route 3 - Further Education, Route 4 - Other and Route 5 - Student Teacher. The minimum registration requirements for each route are set out in the Schedule of the regulations.

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 the EU Directive 2005/36/EC.

A person deemed to be a fully qualified teacher has completed a recognised teacher education qualification and any required programme of induction/period of post-qualification employment 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.

Due to the exceptional circumstances presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Teaching Council introduced a range of interventions to support school communities in 2020/2021 including the Covid-19 Amendment Regulation (CAR). On an emergency time-limited basis under CAR, the Teaching Council accepted applications from eligible primary and post-primary teachers who had qualified outside of Ireland but who had not completed the required period of induction in the country in which they qualified.

To ease teacher supply challenges in the context of the current health situation, the Teaching Council in conjunction with the Department of Education are currently engaging on the re-introduction of this amendment regulation. Any updates with regard to additional registration pathways will be published on the Council’s website over the coming weeks.

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