Arrangements are in place for the recognition in this State of teachers who are recognised teachers in another member state of the EU and to whom the terms of Council Directive 89/48/EEC apply. Statutory Instrument 1/91, by which Council Directive 89/48/EEC on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications was implemented, stipulates that the Minister for Education and Science is the designated authority for the recognition of teachers in primary, community, comprehensive and vocational schools, and that the registration council, with the approval of the Minister, is the designated authority in the case of teachers in voluntary secondary schools.
At post primary level, a teacher who is recognised as a fully qualified teacher in a member state of the EU may apply to my Department for similar recognition in this State. Full recognition is granted to such applicants where the appropriate authority is satisfied that the qualifications held by the applicant are of an equivalent standard to those required for teaching in this State. Where a substantial shortfall in the education and training of the applicant is identified, provisional recognition may be granted on the applicant undertaking to make good the shortfall within the required time limits by means of either passing an aptitude test or completing an adaptation period. At post-primary level there were 74 recorded applications under the directive referred to in 1998, 95 in 1999 and 117 in 2000. All were recognised either provisionally or in full.