83. Deputy Aisling Dempsey asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will instigate a review of the Teaching Council’s Registration routes and open a public consultation for feedback from teaching professionals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29149/26]

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 www.teachingcouncil.ie/assets/uploads/2025/10/SI.2025.0482_TC_Registration_Regulations.pdfAs 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.

The Teaching Council is the regulator of the teaching profession in Ireland. Their role is to protect the public by promoting and regulating professional standards in teaching. They do this through the statutory registration of teachers, ensuring a highly qualified teaching profession, whose member meet an uphold high standards of professional competence and conduct.

The Teaching Council maintains the State’s largest professional register, with over 127,000 teachers on the register. It is independent in its registration function, and it is fully self-financing (via registration fees, rental and investment income).

The Teaching Council revised its registration regulations in 2025. The Teaching Council [Registration] Regulations, 2025 were signed into law by then Minister for Education and Youth, Helen McEntee on 16 October 2025. These new regulations replaced the existing Teaching Council [Registration] Regulations, 2016.

The revisions to the Regulations were made following the Council undertaking a periodic review of the existing registration regulations. The revisions strengthen the Council’s objective of maintaining standards and regulating the teaching profession.

As part of this process, a public consultation was carried out from 27 August to 27 September 2024 with a broad range of education stakeholders, including teachers, and included an online survey open to all published on the Teaching Council website. The public consultation also included a proportionality assessment of the proposed revisions, as required under S.I. No. 413/2022 - European Union (Regulated Professional Assessment) Regulations 2022.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s 2016 Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies (COPGSB) requires that non-commercial state bodies shall be subject to Periodic Critical Review (PCR) no later than every five years. This requirement is to ensure that the ongoing business case for State Bodies including those newly established, are subject to periodic scrutiny and assessment. D/PER’s guidance stipulates that the overarching objective of the review process to primarily secure improvements in accountability, efficiency and effectiveness while also scrutinising objectively the case for rationalisation and consolidation of public bodies in light of changing requirements, demands and priorities. The PCR process is also tasked with assessing the extent to which the governance structure of the public body and the Department’s oversight of the body (if appropriate) is consistent with its legislative underpinning and is strongly aligned to the business needs of the body. The Department’s PCR of the Teaching Council was published on 24 July 2024.

The PCR involved extensive consultation across a broad spectrum of stakeholders that interact with the Teaching Council including, but not limited to, various sections of the Department of Education, Teachers’ Unions, Education Management Bodies, Principals’ Representative Bodies, Higher Education Institutions and other aegis bodies in the Education sector. Overall, the participating stakeholders considered that current registration processes are working well for the majority of applicants.

Work on the progression of the recommendations arising from the PCR is currently underway in the department.