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

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. The Department has no role in the registration of individual teachers.

In its role as a competent authority, the Teaching Council operates in accordance with the EU Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive (2005/36/EU as amended). As a statutory professional standards body, the Teaching Council is required by law to properly determine and to authenticate the relevant standards and qualifications of all applicants for registration.

Fully qualified teachers who qualify from outside of the Republic of Ireland are eligible to apply for registration with the Teaching Council under the Teaching Council (Registration) Regulations.

A fully qualified teacher from outside of the Republic of Ireland must hold Qualified Teacher Status (QTS/licence to teach) and full registration (having met any post-qualification registration requirements of that country, e.g., teacher induction). All applications from teachers who qualify outside of Ireland are processed in line with EU Directive.

All applications from fully qualified teachers who qualify outside of the Republic of Ireland are assessed for comparability with graduates of Teaching Council accredited programmes of initial teacher education. All primary teachers are registered conditionally with the condition of the Irish Language Requirement.

Should further information be required as to the recognition of specific teaching experience for the purposes of registration, it is recommended that the Teaching Council be contacted directly as they are the responsible body under Statute for the purposes of registration.