Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)
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478. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a response will issue to matters raised in correspondence (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3069/25]

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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480. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to advise on a policy matter (details supplied) based on correspondence the Minister has received; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3125/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 478 and 480 together.

The Teaching Council registers teachers under the and in line with the

The Teaching Council is the regulator of the teaching profession in Ireland. Their role is to protect the public by promoting and regulating professional standards in teaching. They do this through the statutory registration of teachers, ensuring a highly qualified teaching profession, whose members meet and uphold high standards of professional competence and conduct.

The recruitment and appointment of teachers to fill teaching posts is a matter for the individual school authority, subject to procedures agreed under Section 24 of the Education Act 1998 (as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act 2012).

In accordance with 1.1 of Department Circular 31/2011, schools should ensure that people appointed to teach are registered teachers with qualifications appropriate to the sector and suitable to the post for which they are employed.

Currently teachers who have qualified outside of the Republic of Ireland (ROI) can apply to register with the Teaching Council as a primary teacher under Route 1 when they have evidence that they are a fully qualified teacher in the country in which they qualified.

To be a fully qualified teacher they must provide evidence that they have completed a recognised teacher education qualification and programme of induction and provide an official letter confirming they are a fully qualified primary teacher from the relevant teacher registration body or Competent Authority or Ministry of Education in that country.

For teachers who qualified in the UK this means that they must submit a letter from the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) stating that they have Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in the UK and have completed the induction period in the UK. Therefore, you would need to complete the induction period in the UK in order to be eligible to apply for registration under Route 1.

However, to assist with teacher supply challenges in the context of a demographic need, the Teaching Council has proposed the creation of a timebound provision within the revised Teaching Council (Registration) Regulations, 2016.

This timebound provision, once enacted, would enable eligible teachers who have qualified outside of the Republic of Ireland (ROI) to apply for registration and complete their induction requirement in the ROI. It is expected, similar to the Teaching Council (Registration) (Amendment) Regulations 2023, that primary and post-primary teachers who qualified outside of the Republic of Ireland and apply to complete their induction here under the new provision will be subject to meeting eligibility and qualifications requirements prior to approval.

The implementation of the revised Teaching Council (Registration) Regulations is subject to a staged Proportionality Assessment process in line with the 2018 EU Proportionality Test Directive. Subject to the outcome of the Proportionality Assessment process, the timebound provision is intended to open to applications from the implementation date of the revised Registration Regulations. It is anticipated that the timebound provision could open in the first quarter of 2025, however, the exact timeline for opening applications is dependent on the implementation date of the revised Registration Regulations. Further information relating to the Proportionality Assessment will be available on the Teaching Council, in due course.