Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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323. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to confirm the status of a person’s application (details supplied) to the teaching council for post primary qualifications assessment; if serious consideration will be given to the application due to the person’s qualifications, particularly as there is a need for European language teachers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50682/26]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, 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.

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 of the Regulations.

As a statutory body, the Teaching Council is mandated by law to properly determine and to authenticate the relevant standards and qualifications of all applicants for registration, including those who have qualified outside of Ireland. My department has no role in this process.

A person deemed to be a fully qualified teacher has completed a recognised teacher education qualification and programme of induction. A person must provide an official letter, confirming they are a fully qualified teacher, from the relevant teacher registration body or Competent Authority in the country of qualification. Post-primary teachers must also meet the post-primary curricular subject requirements for at least one approved curricular subject.

Fully qualified teachers who have qualified outside of the Republic of Ireland (ROI) are eligible to apply for registration with the Teaching Council, which includes the process of recognising their qualifications.

Given the importance and impact of teaching on the lives of learners, the Teaching Council has a responsibility to safeguard standards in a way that supports quality teaching and learning. The Council also has a responsibility to ensure that all registered teachers have met the required standards. Therefore, the qualifications of teachers who qualified outside of ROI are assessed to ensure they are of a comparable standard to those achieved by graduates of accredited Initial Teacher Education programmes in ROI. All applications from teachers who qualified outside of ROI are processed in line with the EU Directive 2005/36/EU and are assessed under its general system in the same manner, regardless of whether the applicant qualified within or outside of the EU. Further details on this process can be found on the Teaching Council website: www.teachingcouncil.ie/i-am-applying-to-register/qualified-outside-of-ireland/.

The Teaching Council receives approximately 680 eligible applications annually from teachers who have qualified outside of the ROI. The average processing time for applications for registration of those who have qualified outside of ROI is seven weeks. This is within the 12-week timeline set out in Directive 2005/36/EU. Applications from outside the ROI are assessed on a holistic basis taking account of all relevant qualifications held by the applicant and their professional experience.

Where substantial differences between the applicant's training and the training in Ireland are identified, the applicant will be given the option of compensating for the substantial difference(s) via an aptitude test or adaptation period. In many instances, applicants put forward multiple qualifications for assessment.

In this instance the person referred to by the Deputy pursued the timebound provision in the Teaching Council (Registration) Regulations 2025 through which teachers who qualified in another country, but have not completed the necessary professional induction there, to register with the Teaching Council (in certain limited circumstances) and to complete induction here in the Republic of Ireland. As induction is not a post-qualification requirement to be fully qualified in the country of qualification in this case, this applicant was advised to apply for post-primary registration via the standard application pathway for teachers who qualified outside the Republic of Ireland.

The Teaching Council received all required documentary evidence by 23 June 2026. Assessment is currently ongoing and this applicant will receive a decision from the Teaching Council within the normal processing timelines.