Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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556. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way in which she proposes to bridge the current qualification gap experienced by special needs teachers who hold a BA in early childhood education awarded outside the State to enable them to continue to work in Irish special schools. [29572/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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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 a function of the Council under the Teaching Council Acts (s7(2)) to act as the competent authority for recognition of qualifications obtained by a person who has applied under this Act for registration as a teacher.

The Teaching Council register teachers under the Teaching Council Act 2001-2015 and in line with:

www.teachingcouncil.ie/en/publications/registration/revised-teaching-council-registration-regulations-2016.pdf

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 qualification requirements for each route are set out in the Schedule of 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.

Central to Initial Teacher Education policy in Ireland is that all teachers teaching children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) should be qualified Primary or Post-primary teachers in the first instance. The Teaching Council as the professional standards body for the teaching profession, sets the standards for programmes of initial teacher education (ITE) and reviews and accredits programmes provided by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the State, based on those standards. All programmes of ITE in Ireland that led to registration must have professional accreditation from the Teaching Council. The standards for programmes of ITE, which were revised in 2020, are published in www.teachingcouncil.ie/assets/uploads/2023/08/ceim-standards-for-initial-teacher-education.pdf

The standards set Inclusive Education as one of the seven core elements which must unpin all aspects of the programme of ITE. Once qualified as a Primary or Post-primary teachers, they may then apply for professional development in the area of SEN, if desired.

Cognisant that teacher education policies vary among countries, Route 4 provides for teachers who have qualified outside of Ireland specifically with an initial teacher education programme in teaching children with special educational needs.