Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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310. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason teachers with a further education qualification and currently working in the primary and secondary school system are discriminated against in terms of admission to masters in education programmes sanctioned by her Department.; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50129/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I assume that the Deputy is referring to the fact that further education teachers may have qualified with an Ordinary Bachelor’s Degree at Level 7 on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) whereas applicants wishing to apply for a Professional Master of Education (PME) must have a minimum Honours Bachelor’s Degree, at Level 8 on the NFQ, along with other entry requirements.

The entry requirements for the PME, including the requirement for a minimum Honours Bachelor’s Degree, are a significant factor in the high quality of our teaching profession in Ireland, which is recognised at home and abroad. The requirements are set consistently across the board to maintain the necessary standards for all applicants.

Entry requirements for Primary PME can be found on the following link: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-education/services/how-to-qualify-as-a-primary-teacher/

Regarding entry for the Post-Primary PME, the applicant must meet the Teaching Council’s curricular subject requirements for at least one curricular subject. The deputy will find a link to the curricular subject requirements here: www.teachingcouncil.ie/assets/uploads/2024/08/curricular-subject-requirements-post-primary-from-1-jan-2023.pdf

The Department does not have a role in the admissions process for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers. It is the role of the ITE provider to determine a student’s suitability for access to the PME.

Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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311. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason teachers with a further education qualification and currently working in the primary and secondary school system are discriminated against in terms of accessing a contract of indefinite duration within schools. [50130/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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In 2015 the Department implemented the recommendations of the Report of the Expert Group on Fixed-Term and Part-Time Employment in Teaching established under the Haddington Road Agreement (also known as the Ward Report) which provided for fixed-term contract teachers to acquire permanent positions more easily and quickly and enable part-time teachers to gain additional hours. The current circulars governing the award of Contracts of Indefinite Duration (CIDS) are circulars 0023/2015 (primary teachers) and 0024/2015 (post-primary and ETB teachers).

These circulars outline the criteria which must be met in order to obtain a CID. Implementation of the Ward Report saw the qualification period for the granting of an initial CID reduced from a period of continuous employment in excess of three years with the same employer to a period of (fully Oireachtas funded) continuous employment in excess of two years with the same employer. The Ward Report extended eligibility to include covering for a teacher absent on two specific schemes. This is confined to covering the absence of (i) a teacher on career break or (ii) a teacher on secondment.

My Department/or an ETB will sanction a CID for a teacher in an Oireachtas funded post who satisfies all of the following conditions:

(i) s/he is registered on a current basis with the Teaching Council and

(ii) s/he is the holder of qualifications appropriate to the sector and

(iii) s/he has had in excess of 2 years continuous teaching service under two or more successive written contracts of employment with the same employer that were paid for out of monies provided by the Oireachtas and the most recent such contract is comprehended by 1 or 2 of Part A of circulars 0023/2015 or 0024/2015 and a new interview process was conducted.

Unless s/he is excluded by reason of the following :

(iv) s/he is covering for another teacher absent on an approved scheme of leave other than covering for a teacher absent on career break or secondment and this was set out as an objective ground in writing in the previous contract.

If all conditions in circular 0023/2015 or 0024/2015 have been satisfied and a CID has been refused, the applicant is entitled to appeal this decision under Circular 0030/2018.

More recently, in April of this year I announced a measure to address ongoing challenges and boost teacher supply whereby teachers taking up their first contract in a viable teaching post in September 2025, will become eligible for a permanent contract in September 2026. This eligibility is contingent upon successful re-appointment following a competitive recruitment process and the ongoing viability of the post in a school. This represents a substantial improvement on the existing situation, which required teachers to complete two consecutive contracts before qualifying for a permanent position.

Teachers not covered by this new policy, such as those in substitute roles or those whose posts are not deemed viable after one year, will continue to follow the existing route to permanency, which typically involves achieving a CID after a third contract. Detailed guidelines and implementation procedures for this new policy will be developed with the support of education stakeholders, including teacher unions and management body representatives.

Any further amendments to teacher terms and conditions, can only be achieved through engagement and collective bargaining agreements between the Government and the public service unions or through the Teachers Conciliation Council (TCC) forum in the Department of Education and Youth. The TCC deals with claims and proposals relating to the terms and conditions of employment, including pay and allowances, of teachers to which the Department, school management representatives and unions are all party.

Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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312. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason teachers with a further education qualification and currently working in the primary and secondary school system are discriminated against in terms of admission to route 4 within special needs education. [50131/25]

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 www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2001/act/8/enacted/en/html and in line with the www.teachingcouncil.ie/assets/uploads/2023/08/revised-teaching-council-registration-regulations-2016.pdf. 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 and Youth policies and priorities and developed over a number of years.

The route in place for teachers in the further education sector is Route 3, and this route of registration applies for teachers in further education colleges, community education and solas training centres.

Cognisant that teacher education policies vary among countries, Route 4 of the Registration Regulations provides for teachers who have qualified outside of the Republic of Ireland with an initial teacher education programme in teaching children with special educational needs in primary and post-primary settings. These teachers must be fully recognised by the competent authority/teacher licensing body in the country in which they qualified and have completed any post qualification requirements such as teacher induction. These applications are assessed by the Teaching Council to ensure that they meet the requirements for Special Educational Needs (SEN) teaching in Ireland and that they are of an equivalent standard to those required in the State. Outside of this provision for Route 4 registration, and central to Department policy, is the requirement that all teachers teaching children with SEN should be qualified primary or post-primary teachers in the first instance and may then apply for one of the Department of Education and Youth recognised qualifications in Special Educational Needs as outlined in Circular www.assets.gov.ie/static/documents/dbbed0ae-00442019-.pdf

The Education for Persons with www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2004/act/30/enacted/en/html 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 www.teachingcouncil.ie/assets/uploads/2023/08/ceim-standards-for-initial-teacher-education.pdf 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.