Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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391. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if any action can be taken to speed up the process by which the Teaching Council can implement a timebound provision within its regulations to allow eligible teachers who qualified outside of Ireland to apply for registration and complete their induction requirements here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9541/25]

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.

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.

The Teaching Council has a statutory remit, and there is a provision in the legislation which allows them to make regulations for the purposes of registration. A further Statutory Instrument (SI) is required to establish the proposed creation of this timebound provision, which under the Teaching Council Act is a matter for the Council.

Please note the current timeframes publicised by the Teaching Council are indicative and not definitive in relation to the progression of the proportionality assessment and associated tasks associated with the making of the new Registration Regulations.

As the Teaching Council is an independent body and have the delegated responsibility for the completion of a proportionality assessment on the proposed new Registration Regulations the department will not have any further information in relation to matter. Further updates will be published on the Council’s website () in due course.