Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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374. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if people who do a postgraduate certificate in education in the north of Ireland can finish their induction in the south of Ireland; to provide details on this process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9249/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Teaching Council registers teachers under the Teaching Council Act 2001-2015 and in line with the Teaching Council Registration Regulations, 2016. 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 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.

Teachers who have qualified outside of the Republic of Ireland (ROI) can apply to register with the Teaching Council when they have evidence that they are a fully qualified teacher in the country in which they qualified. Currently, to be a fully qualified teacher they must provide evidence that that they have completed a recognised teacher education qualification and programme of induction and provide an official letter confirming they are a fully qualified post-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.

To assist with teacher supply challenges, 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 (Droichead) in the ROI. 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 at this time that the revised regulations will be approved and implemented in the first or second quarter of this year. It should also be noted that applicants will likely have to meet certain eligibility and qualifications requirements prior to approval.

Further details will be provided on the website, , regarding the implementation of the timebound provision.