Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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103. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of an application by a person (details supplied) to the Teaching Council; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39300/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Teaching Council registers teachers under the Teaching Council Act 2001-2015 and in line with the As set out in the Schedule of the Regulations, the Council registers teachers under five routes of registration: 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 Regulations. The Department has no role in the registration of individual teachers.

The Council assesses applications for registration to ensure that the qualifications meet the standard required of all applicants, to uphold the high standards our education system is known for. In assessing qualifications all requirements are applied equally and transparently to all and that is an important principle.

In accordance with EU Directive 2005/36/EC, the qualifications of teachers who qualified outside of the Republic of Ireland (RoI) are assessed to ensure they are of a comparable standard to those achieved by graduates of accredited programmes in Ireland.

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.

The Teaching Council has confirmed that the person referred to by the Deputy in this query is required to submit such evidence, as is the case with all applicants who have qualified outside of Ireland.

The Teaching Council has informed me that have been communicating with the applicant in relation to the outstanding evidence and will contact the individual again to provide further support.