Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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630. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her views on if a ‘bridging’ or ‘adaptation’ pathway will be developed for a secondary school teacher (details supplied) to become formally recognised as a primary school teacher; and if initiatives or pilot programmes are in place that will allow qualified post-primary teachers with extensive primary experience to transition more easily. [57766/25]

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, 2025 (www.teachingcouncil.ie/assets/uploads/2025/10/SI.2025.0482_TC_Registration_Regulations.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 down in the Schedule to 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.

Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes in Ireland are sector specific in line with the age range of the students, reflecting the different requirements appropriately. The primary age range is 4-12 years of age and post-primary age range is 12-18 years of age.

There are minimum entry requirements for programmes of ITE set by the Minister of Education and Youth, in consultation with the Teaching Council and are published on the website of the Department of Education and Youth.

The Teaching Council sets out the standards for Initial Teacher Education in Ireland (Ceim). As per Céim , each programme must reflect the ITE Programme Balance which can be viewed at www.teachingcouncil.ie/assets/uploads/2023/08/ceim-standards-for-initial-teacher-education.pdf (page 11, 1.1.4, Table 1)

Each programme must include required areas of study.

1. Foundation studies

Foundation studies include curriculum studies, (sector specific) the history and policy of education, philosophy of education, psychology of education, (age range specific) and sociology of education

2. Professional studies

1. All Primary programmes shall contain Tréimhse Foghlama sa Ghaeltacht. This is an immersive educational programme through the medium of Irish in a Gaeltacht setting of a minimum four weeks duration. The Fillteán Foghlama shall be of relevance to the professional studies aspects of the programme of ITE.
2. Subject discipline components in post-primary programmes of ITE shall include subject specific curricular studies and pedagogies (methodologies) in which the theory, methodology and practice of teaching specific subjects are addressed, as appropriate.

• Gaeilge – Student teachers’ confidence and competence in Irish, including oral Irish, needs to be developed to a sufficient level to enable them to teach the Gaeilge primary curriculum. This includes, but is not limited to language learning as part of the Tréimhse Foghlama sa Ghaeltacht.(Students enrolled in an ITE ISL programme are exempt from this requirement)
• Early Childhood Education