Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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425. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will direct the Teaching Council to introduce a primary teaching degree programme in autism, for the purpose or teaching in autism classes (details supplied); if, given the shortage of primary teachers with a special education qualification in Ireland, she will direct the Teaching Council to admit to the register teachers who have obtained an education degree in special and autism education degrees in the UK as children with autism are exempt from Irish so special education teachers should not to be examined in Irish proficiency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14215/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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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. There are five routes of registration, the minimum registration requirements for each route are set out in the Schedule of the Regulations.

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.

It is the Council’s responsibility to ensure that all teachers entering the profession in Ireland have met the required standards. These standards have been established following extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders, research, and in accordance with Department of Education policies and priorities and developed over a number of years.

To address your query in relation to the Irish language requirements, while an Irish exemption may be granted to some learners, in accordance with Department of Education Circulars Circular 0054/2022 (Primary) and Circular 0055/2022 (Post-Primary) such exemptions are in exceptional circumstances as outlined in those circulars. As the first official language in Ireland, and for fundamental cultural and historical reasons which are inextricably linked to Irish identity, the study of the Irish language is a key aspect of the learning experiences that are considered appropriate for students in recognised schools in Ireland. For these reasons, Irish is a core subject in the curriculum determined by the Minister for recognised Irish schools. That is the expectation in all educational settings, including Special Educational Needs (SEN) settings, and schools are expected and encouraged to provide all pupils, to the greatest extent possible and in a meaningful way, with opportunities to participate in Irish language and cultural activities at a level appropriate to their learning needs. In that context, a core principle is that all learners are equally entitled to be taught by teachers who can mediate the curriculum appropriately.

The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004 provides that people with special educational needs are educated in an inclusive environment, as far as possible and have the same right to access and benefit from education as children who don’t have these needs.

The Teaching Council has published Céim: Standards for Initial Teacher Education, which set out the requirements which all programmes of qualification for teaching in Ireland must meet in order to gain accreditation from the Teaching Council. It is also a benchmark for anybody seeking to register as a teacher in Ireland.

Céim includes core elements that ITE programmes must contain, including Inclusive Education: which "includes the fostering of appropriate learning environments, including digital ones, which support the development of student teachers’ ability to provide for the learning needs of all pupils by utilising, for example, a universal design for learning framework." This is intended to provide the foundational competencies teachers will need in order to teach in SEN settings.

There are a number of Graduate and Post-graduate Diplomas in the field of Special Education which are approved by the Department of Education and can be used to add this sector to a teacher’s registration where the teacher also holds an accredited teacher education qualification.

The Teaching Council works within Department policy and central to this policy is that all teachers teaching children with Special Educational Needs should be qualified Primary or Post-Primary teachers in the first instance and may then apply for one of the DE recognised qualifications in Special Educational Needs as outlined in Circular 0044/2019.