Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 January 2026
1128. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of complaints received by the Teaching Council in the past three years, by source (parents, boards of management, others); the outcomes of these complaints; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [74777/25]
View answerThe 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 to 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.
The Teaching Council is the regulator of the teaching profession in Ireland. Its role is to protect the public by promoting and regulating professional standards in teaching. This is discharged through the statutory registration of teachers, ensuring a highly qualified teaching profession, whose members meet and uphold high standards of professional competence and conduct. The department has no role in the registration of individual teachers.
As a statutory professional standards body, the Teaching Council is required by law to properly determine and to authenticate the relevant standards and qualifications of all applicants for registration. One of the ways the Council ensures and regulates standards is by ensuring that all teachers entering the profession in the Republic of Ireland have met the required standards.
Part 5 of the Teaching Council Acts allows the Teaching Council to receive complaints about registered teachers, and to conduct investigations and hold inquiries, where deemed appropriate.
Any person including members of the public, employers and other teachers may make a complaint about a registered teacher. In addition, the Teaching Council can itself make a complaint about a registered teacher.
In general, the Council’s Investigating Committee can consider complaints under a number of grounds including professional misconduct and poor professional performance. Please note that all registered teachers are expected to comply with the Council’s Code of Professional Conduct for Teachers - www.teachingcouncil.ie/fitness-to-teach/updated-code-of-professional-conduct/
It is important to note that the Council can only investigate complaints relating to currently registered teachers.
The Code sets out the standards of professional knowledge, skill, competence and conduct which are expected of registered teachers. The standards are underpinned by four core values – respect, care, integrity and trust, and reflect the complexity of teaching.
All complaints will be considered in accordance with the Teaching Council Acts, 2001 – 2015 and procedures and rules approved by Council.
During the 2024/2025 reporting year which ran from 28 March 2024 - 27 March 2025, the Teaching Council received 53 complaints.
Further information can be found on pages 24 – 30 of the Teaching Council’s Annual Report 2024/25: www.teachingcouncil.ie/assets/uploads/2025/10/Teaching-Council-Annual-Report-2024-2025.pdf
During the 2023/2024 reporting year which ran from 28 March 2023 - 27 March 2024, the Teaching Council received 58 complaints.
Further information can be found on pages 32 – 39 of the Teaching Council’s Annual Report 2023/24: www.teachingcouncil.ie/assets/uploads/2025/01/Teaching-Council-2023-2024-Annual-Report-English.pdf
During the 2022/2023 reporting year which ran from 28 March 2022 - 27 March 2023, the Teaching Council received 43 complaints.
Further information can be found on pages 43 – 50 of the Teaching Council’s Annual Report 2022/23: www.teachingcouncil.ie/assets/uploads/2023/08/Teaching-Council-Annual-Report-2022-to-23-Final.pdf
Tables containing the status of complaints at the end of each reporting year and the breakdown of the source of the complaints, as requested by the Deputy, are at the link below. This information is also included in the Teaching Council's Annual Reports, available on its website.
