Vol. 508 No. 1
822 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Education and Science the reason it is necessary for primary school teachers trained abroad to have Irish to enable them to be considered fully qualified and eligible for full-time posts; and if this barrier will be removed for resource or other primary teachers in view of the fact it has already been removed in other categories of teaching. [17543/99]
Irish primary school teachers are class teachers as distinct from individual subject teachers and must, therefore, be qualified to teach all aspects of the curriculum. For this reason, all teachers seeking recognition must achieve a standard of competence in the Irish language. This competence can be achieved by undergoing and passing the Irish qualifications examination, an scrúdú le haghaidh cáilíochta sa Ghaeilge both written and oral, or its equivalent.
My Department currently operates a scheme of provisional recognition at primary level whereby individuals who are recognised as fully qualified primary teachers in the United Kingdom or other EU member states may be appointed to a post in a primary school for a period of three years in advance of acquiring the Irish language qualification. On attainment of the Irish language qualification, such teachers are then recognised as fully qualified primary teachers in the State.
In addition, qualified primary teachers who trained outside the State, including, teachers who trained outside the EU, but who do not possess the required Irish language qualification, will be granted restricted recognition by my Department to teach in certain special schools and classes where Irish is not a curricular requirement. My Department is currently preparing a circular that will outline in detail the various types of recognition that teachers trained abroad may be eligible for and the procedures by which they can apply for same.
