Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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282. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when teachers, employed in ETB schools, who have submitted their application in advance of the 31 July deadline, can expect to receive their professional masters of education fee refund, appreciating that teachers employed in other school settings have received the refund; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49786/25]

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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294. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she is aware of delays in processing the professional masters in education grant specifically for teachers in the education and training board system; when an application will be processed for a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49929/25]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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295. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason ETB teachers have not received the PME grant refund while Department school teachers have; when they can expect payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49950/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 282, 294 and 295 together.

This Government is committed to ensuring that every child has a positive school experience, with access to qualified and engaged teachers who are dedicated to supporting their learning.

A range of measures have been introduced to support schools in their recruitment efforts. One such measure is the PME Fee Refund Scheme. The Department published Circular 0069/2024 Professional Master of Education (PME) Fee Refund Scheme in September 2024.

This circular provides the eligibility criteria and application process for the scheme. The circular also states that payments to applicants would issue as soon as possible after the 2024/25 school year. As the application deadline was 31 July 2025, and as the school year ended on 31 August 2025, the process of issuing payments continues.

Over 1,800 applications were received by the deadline. Approximately 78% of these met the eligibility criteria with over 77% of eligible applications paid to date. Many of those who did not meet the eligibility criteria have been informed. My Department continues to process applications and expects to have payments processed for eligible applications in the coming weeks.

A number of other measures have also been introduced including a STEM bursary, expansion of upskilling programmes, flexible substitution measures, continued promotion of the profession and workforce planning for teachers and SNAs is under way.

These measures are designed to ensure a steady flow of qualified teachers into the profession and reflect the commitment to ongoing investment in the education system to address teacher supply.

I will continue to consider further measures to strengthen the teaching workforce and ensure that schools have the support needed to provide an excellent education for every student.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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283. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide a timeline for the delivery of a statutory instrument (details supplied) relating to timebound provision, enabling eligible teachers who have qualified outside the Republic of Ireland to apply for registration and complete their induction requirement in the Republic of Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49800/25]

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 qualification requirements for each route are set down in the Schedule.

The qualifications of teachers who qualified outside of the Republic of Ireland are assessed on an individual and holistic basis for the purposes of registering as a teacher. Qualifications are assessed for comparability with graduates of initial teacher education programmes accredited by the Teaching Council. All applications from teachers who qualified abroad are processed in line with the EU Directive 2005/36/EC and are assessed in the same manner, regardless of whether they qualified within or outside the EU. The EU Directive provides for the assessment of qualifications for the purposes of recognition, and this recognition may be subject to conditions. The directive enables those teachers who are registered or certified to teach in the jurisdictions in which their qualifications are obtained to apply for registration in the State, however where such registration or certification includes a mandated period of induction or post-qualification practice under the directive this is a requirement of registration in the State.

To assist further with teacher supply challenges, I announced last April that I would work with the Teaching Council to introduce a proposal to enable eligible teachers who have qualified outside of Ireland to apply for registration and complete their induction requirement here.

I see this as an important step in encouraging more teachers to work and start their careers here in Ireland.

Under the Teaching Council Act, the Council makes regulations for the purposes of registration through statutory instrument, including to amend or replace existing regulations. A new set of registration regulations have been drafted which include the provision for induction in the state for teachers qualified outside of the state for a specified period of time. The making of such regulations are subject to certain requirements, including engaging with the Data Protection Commissioner in the context of data protection legislation. Statutory Instrument No 413/2022 - European Union (Regulated Professional Assessment) Regulations 2022 prescribes that a proportionality impact assessment be carried out on any regulations related to access regulated professions, so this was also undertaken on the draft registration regulations. The Teaching Council also undertook consultation with relevant education stakeholders as is the usual practice. Legal advice was also obtained and all of those steps added to the time required, ensuring that the final draft regulations are proportional, with no legal impediments to the making of same.

It is expected 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.

I am pleased to inform you that the final draft of the new Registration Regulations has been received from the Teaching Council and is progressing through the required procedures so that it can be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas to be implemented shortly.

Please refer to the Teaching Council website, www.teachingcouncil.ie, for updates regarding the making of the new Registration Regulations, and for information on accessing the timebound provision for overseas qualified applicants to register and complete their induction in the State.