Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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185. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills Further to Parliamentary Question No. 436 of 30 September 2025, if new applications or proposals will be accepted where they are made by HEIs who are not currently offering the programme; whether the use of the term ‘area’ in the reply referenced above refers to a “geographical” or ‘subject matter’ area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54277/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As outlined to the Deputy in my previous response to Parliamentary Question No. 436, it falls to HEIs as autonomous bodies to consider their expansion of their Initial Teacher Education provision. As such, HEIs who are part of a of university-led centres of teacher education excellence and who are not currently offering a Professional Masters in Education (PME) programme are not precluded from proposing an expansion of their provision in the future. However, any such proposal would need to be considered against identified national need (both subject area needs and geographical needs play an important role) and prevailing teacher supply and demand.