17th October 2025
Did you qualify abroad? Do you want to complete your induction/Droichead in Ireland? If so, please note the important update below.
Following extensive engagement by the INTO with the Department of Education and Youth (DEY) and the Teaching Council, the Minister for Education and Youth Helen McEntee yesterday signed revised registration regulations into law.
Teachers who qualified outside of the Republic of Ireland – and who meet the eligibility criteria – will be able to apply for registration and complete their induction/Droichead here on a time-bound basis.
Applications for this timebound provision will open at 9am on 22 October 2025 and will remain open until 31 December 2027. Members are encouraged to share this information with family members or friends who may be interested and alert them to this significant timebound provision. That includes teachers who may currently be abroad undertaking a course in education; those who have recently completed their courses; or those have already come to Ireland to seek employment.
Welcoming the long-awaited teacher supply measure – which the union diligently progressed over the last year and a half – General Secretary John Boyle stated:
The INTO successfully campaigned for a similar measure during the pandemic. That resulted in the arrival of a significant number of fully qualified primary teachers who had qualified overseas and were much needed.
The union contacted the Department of Education in December 2022 seeking an extension of that scheme until the teacher supply crisis had ended. We were deeply disappointed that our call was not heeded.
After the original scheme was discontinued we remained steadfast in our determination to ensure that fully qualified teachers who trained abroad would be welcomed here immediately after achieving their teaching qualifications. The minister’s long-awaited announcement enables that to happen.
Earlier this year, the Department released shameful data indicating that over 9,000 people who were not qualified to each in primary and special schools had worked as substitutes in place of teachers in 2023/24. It also noted that over 1847 teaching jobs were vacant in March 2025. These untenable teacher shortages are compromising our children’s futures.
The INTO will continue applying maximum pressure on the Department and Teaching Council to ensure that primary teaching in Ireland becomes as attractive as it once was.
For more information, visit the Teaching Council’s website.