Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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432. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps for teachers who qualify and undertake induction in the six-county system to have their qualifications recognised by the Teaching Council; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4564/23]

Norma 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 statutory 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.

To assist with teacher supply challenges in the context of the current public health situation, the Teaching Council, on a time-bound basis, will accept applications from primary and post-primary teachers who have qualified outside of Ireland but who have not completed the statutory period of induction in the country in which they qualified. They will be able to complete induction (Droichead) in Ireland.  This is accordance with the Teaching Council (Registration) (Amendment) Regulations 2023. The application process for these teachers,  will open on 22 February 2023 and remain open until 1 February 2024.