I wish to raise an important issue in respect of which clarification is needed. 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. Upon registration with the Teaching Council, post-qualification professional practice is applied as a condition of registration for all primary and post-primary newly qualified teachers. Until recent years, the traditional route to fulfil this condition for primary school was probation. The Droichead process, which replaces the traditional process, consists of school-based induction, which is underpinned by reflective practices, mentoring, professional conversation and additional professional learning activities, such as observation, cluster meetings, the Taisce professional learning portfolio and the hours taught. All of these activities address the needs of newly qualified teachers as they begin their careers.

According to Droichead, a primary teacher will normally undertake the Droichead process when employed in a permanent, temporary or substitute capacity as a mainstream teacher. A teacher is teaching all the hours of the primary school curriculum, including Irish, for the entire school day. A teacher's tenure at the school may afford him or her the opportunity to meet minimum duration requirements. Yet limitations are being placed on teachers as to what roles qualify for Droichead. A newly qualified teacher may complete Droichead in one of the following roles: a special class teacher in a mainstream school; a teacher in a special school; a full resource teacher of people with low-incidence disabilities; or a full-time learning support teacher. The restrictions involve teaching the same cohort of pupils. The teachers need to complete a block of 60 consecutive days in eligible settings. At a time when we are crying out for teachers, these requirements are excessive.

I recently met members of the Irish National Teachers Organisation, INTO, who highlighted the issue of teacher-pupil ratios, which have a significant impact on children's development and learning. Why are we making newly qualified teachers jump through hoops to do further training, inspections and supervision when they have already carried out placements and supervision during their qualifications? Any primary level teacher who gets any teaching time should be able to count it towards his or her qualifications as part of the Droichead framework. That is a big issue for some people. These restrictive requirements are putting extra pressure on newly qualified teachers to find a job that qualifies for Droichead. They prevent those teachers taking full-time roles, such as supply teacher roles, as they do not qualify under the rigid classroom and qualification requirements.

During the Covid-19 emergency, the Teaching Council confirmed that newly qualified teachers who secured posts on supply panels for the 2021-22 academic year may complete Droichead, the induction framework for newly qualified teachers. However, that is not the case post-pandemic. As I said, any primary level teacher who gets any teaching time at all should be able to count it towards his or her qualifications as part of the Droichead framework.

I thank Deputy Fitzpatrick for raising this important issue, which is a matter of great interest to newly qualified teachers, in addition to school management and school communities. As teachers returned to their classrooms a few weeks ago to meet their students after the summer break, we were once again reminded of the significant and valuable role teachers play in our communities. For the first time in a long time, teachers and students returned to classrooms without the need for masks or social distancing. Teaching and learning returned, as did fun and laughter.

The Teaching Council is the body with responsibility for the profession. It has 37 members, 16 of whom are registered teachers elected by other teachers. It has established standards for post-qualification professional practice as set out in Droichead, an integrated professional induction framework for newly qualified primary and post-primary teachers. These standards have been developed with representatives of teachers and experts on teaching in order to continue to develop a very high-quality and qualified teaching workforce.

The Government is committed to ensuring that all graduating teachers maintain high levels of pedagogical and content knowledge in order to provide excellence in teaching and learning experiences for all students. The Droichead programme is an important part of that commitment. The main objective is to assist the professional learning of newly qualified teachers during the induction phase, thus laying the foundations for subsequent professional growth and learning for the next phase of their career.

I know a newly qualified supply teacher who has a one-year contract. That teacher covers nine schools in rural Ireland. She is doing exactly the theory needed for Droichead but it is not being accepted. Teachers are human beings too who also suffer from mental health issues. They need clarity. The development and learning of our children is the most important thing. The situation at present is that scores of schools in my area just cannot get qualified teachers.

Teachers spend a lot of money getting qualified. During their training, they go into schools and do everything that is required of them. It was done during the Covid-19 pandemic. I do not see any reason they cannot carry on as before. We need to keep our children highly educated and we need to look after these people who have sacrificed a lot through going to college and studying very hard. I believe that teaching is a vocation. I ask for clarity. The Government should intervene in this matter. We have many newly qualified teachers who want to teach but they are being stopped from doing so. The Tánaiste is telling me that a supply teacher I know who is covering nine rural schools should not be included in Droichead. It is an absolute disgrace. I spoke to the Minister for Education last night regarding this. I plead with the Tánaiste and the Minister to intervene.

Other than in exceptional circumstances, schools should deploy newly qualified teachers in a mainstream setting. However, in certain circumstances, a newly qualified teacher may complete the Droichead process in an special educational needs setting. As a general rule, paid employment in a permanent, temporary or substitute capacity is eligible. During the past school year, the Teaching Council put in place some special arrangements relating to Covid, on an emergency basis, to alleviate the impact of the pandemic on schools. These short-term measures were put in place from December 2021 until the end of the 2021-22 school year, and included extending Droichead to newly qualified teachers working on supply panels and covering principal release days.

Following a recent review by the Teaching Council, and due to the easing of Covid restrictions, the Teaching Council has advised that these measures have now ceased and are no longer available. However, newly qualified teachers who are affected by this decision are asked to make immediate contact directly with the Teaching Council, which will liaise with them in respect of their particular circumstances and will do so in a sympathetic and sensitive way. The council is working with the Department to help schools and newly qualified teachers employed on supply panels to enable them to complete the Droichead process.