The Teaching Council is a self funding body with income generated by way of teacher registration and renewal fees. Currently more than 70,000 teachers are registered and 7,500 teachers apply for registration each year. Under Section 23 of the Act, the Council has statutory authority to charge a fee and in this regard the annual teacher registration fee has been set at €90 per teacher per year.
You may wish to note, however, that the outgoing Teaching Council reviewed its financial statements for 2011 and budget for 2012 and decided to recommend that the annual teacher registration renewal fee be reduced from €90 to €65 with effect from 1 January 2013. I have indicated my support for this. The total income from Registration and Assessment Fees for 2011 was €6,783,163.
The Council's income is necessary to meet its statutory obligations. While it is accepted that the Council is not yet in a position to fully discharge its legal functions it is my intention to implement the remaining sections of the Act as soon as is practicable.