Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 October 2025
412. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will intervene to ensure that teachers registered under route 3, who are actively teaching in Irish schools, are not excluded from accessing the Droichead process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57084/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Teaching Council registers teachers under the Teaching Council Act 2001-2015 and in line with the Teaching Council Registration Regulations, 2025. 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. The Department has no role in the registration of individual teachers.
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 carried out 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 recruitment and appointment of teachers to fill teaching posts is a matter for the individual school authority, subject to procedures agreed under Section 24(3) of the Education Act 1998 (as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act 2012).
In accordance with Department Circular 44/2019 and Circular 31/2011, which are available on the Department’s website under gov.ie - Department of Education, schools are required to employ appropriately qualified teachers and ensure that unemployed teachers should be offered employment in preference to those who have retired. These measures were taken in an effort to increase employment opportunities for unemployed teachers.
The Teaching Council registers teachers under Route 3 - Further Education (FE) in line with the Teaching Council Acts and the Teaching Council (Registration) Regulations 2025. Registration under Route 3 requires a teacher-education qualification suitable for the purposes of teaching in FE settings and can be completed as part of an undergraduate degree or in addition to an undergraduate degree accredited in accordance with the Further Education: General and Programme Requirements for the Accreditation of Teacher Education Qualifications.
The Department applies the routes to determine the sector to which each route of registration should apply. Details can be found in the relevant Department circulars referred to previously.
Droichead, the Teaching Council’s integrated professional induction framework is open to newly qualified teachers registered under Route 1, Route 2 or Route 4, who meet the eligibility requirements as set out by the Teaching Council. It is important to note that the teacher must be qualified and registered under the appropriate route of registration for the sector that they are employed in., and for which Droichead applies, that is primary and post-primary.
