Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 11 Jul 2024

My Department works closely with the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, on the forward planning of new special classes and additional special school places. In the budget, we secured funding for up to 400 new special classes in mainstream schools and an additional 300 special school places for the 2024-25 school year. This will deliver 2,700 new places for children.

Nationwide over 386 new special classes, providing 2,300 special education places in mainstream schools, have been sanctioned by the NCSE for the coming 2024-25 school year.

I am determined to ensure that all children who require a placement can access this as quickly as possible. I meet with the NCSE every week to discuss progress and to ensure that every child has a school place for the coming term.

There are now over 3,000 special classes in our education system providing places for over 20,000 students. We have opened four new special schools for the 2024-25 school year and increased capacity in a number of existing special schools to ensure that more children than ever can access an education appropriate to their needs.

My Department and the NCSE are actively engaging with school patrons and a small number of schools to finalise the arrangements necessary for the remainder of special classes to open for the coming school year in the areas where they are needed. I expect these remaining new special classes will be finalised shortly and that this additional provision, coupled with vacancies in existing special classes, will provide the capacity needed for the coming school year.

The NCSE continues to be notified where schools are completing the enrolment process to special classes as children move from primary to post-primary or leave our school system. These places continue to be filled on an ongoing basis.

The NCSE is working with schools which may be available to open classes for September 2024 but may not be required at this time. They will remain options for additional provision if required. I am satisfied that we have created the additional capacity required to meet the needs of children known to the NCSE for September 2024.

I have looked back at the announcements made last December when the previous Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, stated that the Department would increase services into the schools. The Minister of State said the NCSE announced a new campaign on 16 October 2023 to recruit additional special education needs organisers and this recruitment is well under way. Can she tell me how many additional SENOs have been recruited since October 2023? She said that planning and work with schools to set up to 400 additional special classes for the 2024-25 school year is well under way. Can she confirm that those 400 additional classes will be on their way before this September?

Regarding my own area and the Dublin 12 Campaign 4 Autism Inclusion, they still do not have enough autism classes. There are schools with none, schools awaiting building work, and children still leaving their own community to go to school. I will come back in again.

First, we are increasing the number of SENOs from 73 to 120 and they will be in place by September this year. I will come back to the Deputy with the exact figure but it is up in the eighties at this point. The 120 will be in place for the coming school year beginning in September 2024. What is really important about the role of the SENOs and the feedback we got from the NCSE was that they were overstretched. They had a very wide geographical area to cover. Their area will now be county-based. We are going to reduce their administrative burden so that they can be on the ground, in schools, meeting parents and children and being more visible. I will come back to the Deputy with the figures but she can be assured the SENOs will be in place for this coming school year.

Regarding Dublin 15 and Dublin 12, the NCSE has increased capacity in those areas. The schools have their own enrolment process as well. It is being worked through on a daily and weekly basis between the NCSE and the schools.

I know we are quite tight for time. Perhaps the Minister of State will come back on a few of these things in a few minutes or later on.

There have been no NCSE applications in a number of secondary schools in the Dublin 12 area. Will the Minister of State use the section 37A process on those schools? I think she knows the names of the schools. I gave them to her as part of the question. Drimnagh, Crumlin and Walkinstown are ever-growing areas with new families coming in. We hope to see thousands of families coming into the area over the next two years with the big city-edge development. The Ballymount industrial estate, Bluebell and Inchicore CIÉ works are all earmarked for development, yet we do not have sufficient places in the area for our children's needs now. I specifically asked the Minister of State a question about Alex. We still do have not a school placement for him even though the Minister of State said the NCSE was working closely with the family. We know of other children in the area who do not have school placements yet. Not having that confirmation at this stage of the game causes a lot of anguish to the parents.

I concur on the anxiety and that parents need the reassurance of knowing their child has a place for the upcoming school year. We really do not want to be in this position again. Parents need to know early in the year where their child is going to be that coming September and that is why the resourcing of the NCSE is so important. Today, I have written to a number of schools in the Dublin 15 area to thank them for their work throughout the year but also to highlight the issues the Deputy has raised regarding the anxiety of parents not knowing where their child is going to be in the coming school year. I have also asked them to continue to work with the NCSE and the Department and to continue to progress their enrolment process for special classes as quickly as possible so as to reassure parents. Again, the NCSE is dealing directly with schools, schools patrons and boards of management. Where legislation is needed and needs to be used, it will be applied. I assure the Deputy of that. Everything that can be done to support parents in ensuring their child gets a place in September is happening at the moment.

Tá mé ag díriú isteach ar an togra faoi leith atá ar siúl i rith an tsamhraidh agus go háirid chun ceist a chuir ar an Aire Stáit an bhfuil a fhios aici cé mhéad dalta nach mbeidh rochtain acu ar an scéim sin. Freisin, an bhfuil an tAire Stáit ar an eolas faoin gcleachtas atá ann go bhfuil ar tuismitheoirí íoc as an gclár chun spás a fháil? I am focusing on the number of children who will be left without a place on the summer programme and also on the practice - I am not sure how widespread it is - that seems to have arisen whereby parents have to pay to secure a place on the summer provision.

I thank the Deputy for her question. I am delighted that funding of €40 million has been secured again this year to ensure a comprehensive summer programme is available in 2024. The funding of €40 million is designed to cover the full costs associated with the summer programme. On that particular issue, parents should not be asked to make financial contributions to the summer programme. My Department was made aware of one case, which was immediately resolved. Should any parent find themselves in a position where they are asked to contribute in any way, I would be very keen to hear from them on that because that is just completely unacceptable. All schools have an opportunity to run the summer programme for children who need it most. Our main priority is that the children with the most complex special educational needs, especially in special schools, can have access to a school-based summer programme. The measures for the 2024 summer programme have been designed to maximise participation in the school-based programme. The published reports from my Department’s inspectorate have highlighted the enormous value of this programme and I encourage as many schools as possible, particularly special schools, to participate in this programme.

More than 1,700 individual expressions of interest have been received from schools for this year’s summer programme, compared with over 1,400 schools which participated in 2023. Of the schools registered for the 2024 summer programme, 1,475 primary schools registered, up 19% on 2023; 205 post-primary schools, up 28% on 2023; and 72 special schools, up 22% on 2023 and 85% on 2022. Regarding the Deputy’s question on children who may not be able to access the programme, I am pleased that more children are availing of this support each year and I encourage all schools, even at this late stage, that are thinking of undertaking the programme to contact the Department. We will not have the figures for this summer programme until September as they come in. I have figures for 2021, when 37,500 students took part in the summer programme, and 2023, when 50,000 students took part. We have seen a significant increase in the numbers taking up the programme.

I thank the Minister of State for the clarification and for telling me that just one case has been brought to her attention. I hope there will be no more. It is a totally unacceptable practice.

I welcome all the progress that has been made in this programme. I welcome the increase in student numbers and the number of schools. I welcome the changes and the various appointments that have been made. I welcome all of that but we have to put it in context. This arose from a High Court or Supreme Court judgment back in 2001, 23 years ago. That case was taken in the nineties to say that we could not have children with special needs not getting attention during the summer and that it was detrimental to their welfare. That is the background to the summer provision. It was to deal with children with special needs and complex needs. What I am trying to get at here is that I welcome the analysis and the figures, but we have no context to those. We have approximately 8,000 children attending special schools. Less than 50% of the special schools provide their schools for the summer programme. I will stick within my time and stop there.

When we reached out to schools in order to increase the numbers partaking, we asked them what the barriers to doing the summer programme were. The issues that came up were the rate of pay for teachers and SNAs. We have increased the rate of pay for teachers and SNAs. We have opened up a portal because some of the schools were saying they could not get the teachers or the SNAs. A portal has been opened up for teachers and SNAs to register their interest to work in any school across the country. It is even open to student teachers or to students from other disciplines, for example, therapy, social care, nursing or early years students or care workers, to encourage more schools across the country to partake in this. We have also shortened the school day and provided additional grant funding. A dedicated national co-ordinator for the schools has been appointed and there is faster payment of staff. All of these issues were highlighted by the schools across the country. I want to see even more schools partaking every year, particularly for those with the most complex needs.

I am not diminishing the progress that is being made but to appreciate it fully we need to realise the Government is under a legal obligation to provide summer provision. Within that, how do we assess the progress? It has come as a result of pressure from the parents and the hardship of parents. I have received representations related to parents seeking residential care simply because their children have regressed as they cannot access summer programmes. On top of that, we do not have a breakdown of the percentage of children with special needs who are actually attending the summer programme. We do not have a breakdown. Do they attend for one, two, three or four weeks? There is no minutiae, which is very important so that we can improve the scheme and make it suitable for those who most need it. I understand that some schools use their premises to earn money through summer camps and so on, but do not put an emphasis on special needs.

I am not here to give out about schools. I am here to highlight the legal obligation on the Government to provide summer provision for those who need it most. I would not like to stand here again in the next term looking at the progress in terms of figures without an overall context and a breakdown.

We all know the value of the summer programme and the Deputy is absolutely right. The feedback from teachers and parents is such that when children can partake in the summer programme, that regression is greatly reduced when they go back to school, which is why we have focused on it. The uptake of special schools has significantly increased, according to the inspectorate report on this.

We can delve down. There are figures-----

I will come back to the Deputy on that and try to delve into those figures. The Department cannot compel schools to participate in the programme because participation in the school-based summer programme is voluntary, and it is a matter for boards of management and schools to decide whether they will run the programme. What the Department has done is reach out to all schools, as we continue to do, in respect of what the barriers are and that is where the issues of pay, access to teachers and SNAs, the portal and increasing the grants for them came in. We will continue to do this because we all absolutely value the importance of the programme. I know we are singing off the one hymn sheet here, but it is important that more schools engage on this. The Department and I will also be looking at this through the budgetary process to see what else we can do to encourage schools.

I am seeking the Minister's support for neamhspleáchas, or independence, for Gaelcholáiste an Chláir, which is operating as a unit, or an aonad, of Ennis Community College. That comes under the auspices of Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, ETB. I was chairperson of that entity for many years and it was something we always strived for. There is once more a huge campaign for this to happen. Inniu, táim lán i bhfabhar an fheachtais agus ag iarraidh tacaíocht an Aire a fháil chun neamhspleáchas a thabhairt do Ghaelcholáiste an Chláir i mbaile na hInse.

I thank the Deputy. Since 2011, arrangements have been in place for the establishment of new schools involving the forecasting of demand for school places based on demographic exercises carried out by my Department. New schools are established only in areas of demographic growth because the resources available for school infrastructure have to be prioritised to ensure every child has a school place. These arrangements give an opportunity to patrons to apply for the patronage of new schools. The criteria used in deciding on the patronage of new schools place an emphasis on parental patronage and language preferences, either as Béarla ó as Gaeilge, and an analysis of existing provision, including Irish-medium provision, in the areas where the schools are to be established.

Most new post-primary schools must have a student enrolment capacity of 600 to 1,000 students. A lower threshold of 400 students may apply to Gaelcholáistí, having regard to the alternative of establishing an Irish-medium unit, or aonad, in an English-medium school. It is possible for any post-primary school patron to contact the Department to explore the establishment of an aonad in an existing school.

Work on the development of a new policy for Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht is in progress in my Department. This policy will sit within the overall framework of the 20-year strategy for the Irish language and will build on the achievements of the policy on Gaeltacht education. Among the objectives for the new policy are exploring how opportunities for the establishment of Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí can be increased as part of the patronage process.

The Department has recently published a series of reports prepared by the SEALBHÚ research institute in Dublin City University, DCU, which will inform the development of the new policy. These reports include a review of international literature on education through the medium of minority languages, reports on the various stages of the public consultation undertaken by my Department to inform policy development, and a series of resulting policy proposals. In developing the new policy, the Department will draw on these reports, as well as information shared by stakeholders in bilateral meetings. The information will be considered in light of the existing provision for Irish-medium education and future projections of demand for the education system, as well as the Department’s budgetary and legislative context.

I thank the Minister for her comprehensive reply. This arose many times, as I said, in the Limerick and Clare ETB when I was chairman. One of the members was Dónal Ó hAiniféin. Thug sé sárthacaíocht don fheachtas chun neamhspleáchas a bhaint amach do bhaile na hInse agus don Ghaelcholáiste atá ann. Gaelcholáiste an Chláir opened in 1993 in order that children in Clare could receive their secondary education, including State examinations, through the medium of all Irish. The school, as I mentioned, operates as a unit, or aonad, of Ennis Community College. Everyone was delighted in 1993 when the unit began, but the founders always believed it would achieve independence within a matter of a few short years.

That was in 1993, more than 30 years ago. Séamus Ó Liatháin, who was chief executive of the then Clare vocational college and was one of those who led that campaign to found Gaelcholáiste an Chláir, was confident the Department would grant independence to this unit within a short period, around 1993 or 1994, but that never materialised. Sadly, despite everyone's efforts, in particular those of Dónal Ó hAiniféin, An Clár as Gaeilge and all the Irish movement people in the county, it still has not happened. We are still fighting for neamhspleáchas 30 years later and we would love if this could be reviewed by the Department.

I submitted a similar question to the Minister. Along with the points that have been mentioned, another point to note is that more than 700 students are in Gaelscoileanna in County Clare, over 200 of whom are in areas outside of Ennis, in Shannon, Moy and Kilrush. As the Gaelcholáiste is still just an aonad, all those students have been deprived access to the free transport scheme, which must be taken into consideration. On 2 October 2021, the Minister was considering the transition of Gaelcholáiste an Chláir from an aonad to an independent, stand-alone Gaelcholáiste. She mentioned the number of students. Clare has had a growth in population of 8%, much the same as has been seen nationally, but if we look at other Gaelcholáistí, one in Tralee, County Kerry, was established as an aonad with ten pupils in 1984 and achieved independence in 1989 with only 64 pupils in total.

As both Deputies noted, the Irish-medium provision in Ennis is currently provided by Gaelcholáiste an Chláir, which is an Irish-medium aonad within Ennis Community College. I welcome the level of enrolment in the aonad, at 116 students. It is fantastic that these students are taking up the opportunity to avail of their post-primary education through the medium of Irish. These students have benefited from the recently completed extension at Ennis Community College, which has provided excellent accommodation for all the students in the school community. There is capacity for further enrolment in the aonad, which is an important point. For the 2023-24 school year, 52 first year places were available in the aonad, for Irish-medium education, for which there were only 22 applications and only 16 accepted places. Those numbers are significant. A total of 52 places were available but only 22 pupils applied and only 16 accepted places in the aonad.

The Department has received correspondence, as outlined, from Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board proposing that Gaelcholáiste an Chláir become a stand-alone school.

I get what the Minister is saying about enrolment, but I hope that if the level of enrolment increases, as I am confident it will, this will remain under review. The Minister has in recent weeks sanctioned a new school for Gaelscoil Donncha Rua in Shannon. The Irish language movement in the county is growing, as is the number of students taking on all-Irish education. We are specifically looking for neamhspleáchas, or independence, in order that the school will have its own roll book, principal, board of management and structure, and through that, it can continue to grow and grow.

I sit on the board of Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh, which has really thrived and been a success story but it got that through neamhspleáchas and through having its own identity. We really hope Clare will not remain an outlier and that it will get its own independent, or neamhspleách, Gaelcholáiste i mbaile na hInse. Tá Dónal Ó hAiniféin agus baill an chláir Gaeilge ag féachaint isteach ar an díospóireacht inniu. I hope that if the level of enrolment continues to increase, as I believe it will, this will be reviewed. We deserve a Gaelcholáiste. The Minister has visited the area. She opened that building and has supported it greatly, for which we are so grateful. I hope everything will remain fluid if the level of enrolment increases.

The Department has received correspondence, as I said, from Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board proposing that Gaelcholáiste an Chláir become a stand-alone school. The enrolments in Gaelcholáiste an Chláir, as I outlined, do not currently appear to be at a level where a stand-alone Gaelcholáiste could be established and the majority of children leaving the Gaelscoil in Ennis are choosing English-medium post-primary education. In that context, certain clarifications and a more detailed proposal were requested from the ETB. That is important. We are showing an openness. We have identified the issue whereby 52 places were available but there were only 22 applicants, of whom only 16 accepted places. There is an openness from us to look at the detailed reply that may come from the ETB and the case it might make, to be solution focused and to drive forward with this.

I absolutely accept there is sár-obair ar siúl ann. There is great work going on there; great dedication. We want to make this possible but we must address the issues that have been highlighted.

That is right, but the Deputy is there nonetheless.

I wish to acknowledge the major contribution being made daily by all school leaders in successfully operating Irish schools to an incredibly high standard. Budget 2017 allowed for the commencement of restoration of middle management posts as part of an agreed distributed leadership model and meant lifting the rigidity of the long-standing moratorium on these posts. The equivalent of approximately 1,300 middle management posts, namely assistant principal, AP, I and II posts, were restored in our primary and special schools. The Department committed to annually revising the allocation of posts of responsibility to take into account retirements during the school year, which has ensured that the current level of posts of responsibility is maintained in the school system. In 2022, the sectoral bargaining process under Building Momentum for the primary sector was used to increase posts of responsibility in primary and special schools by 1,450 posts. Budget 2024 has also provided for an additional 1,000 posts of responsibility, namely 500 AP II posts in both primary and second level, for the 2024-25 school year. A revised post of responsibility schedule has issued to schools to reflect this increase in AP II posts available to schools from September 2024. Today, one in three primary school teachers hold management positions in our primary and special schools.

The school leadership framework introduced in 2017 allows for flexibility in identifying and prioritising the evolving leadership and management needs of schools. This shared leadership model supports school leaders in the overall management and operation of schools. It provides for the assignment and reassignment of post-holders to specific roles and responsibilities to meet a school’s evolving needs. Other measures introduced at primary level in the intervening period in relation to school management and leadership structures include the following. In budget 2022, I ensured that all primary schools with a teaching principal have a minimum of 37 principal release days, that is, one administrative day per week. Schools with one special class have four additional release days, a total of 41 in the school year. The administrative principal pupil threshold has been reduced from an enrolment of 178 to 169, with the deputy administrative principal threshold reduced from an enrolment of 655 to 573. In budget 2024, the threshold for the appointment of an administrative deputy principal in special schools was removed which means that 100 teaching deputy principals in these schools will gain administrative deputy principalship from September of this year.

I thank the Minister. There were a large number of statistics in that. In today's world, especially in primary schools, there is a great deal going on. I am aware of two schools that are undertaking building projects. Matters have become difficult. School principals are not just managing education, they are managing facilities. They are doing project management and procurement. They are responsible to anybody and everybody. It is important that we have the assistant principal role. In today's world there is so much about health and safety, all the children's safety, and all the things that go with education now. The workload and responsibility of the school principal have evolved enormously, especially over the last 20 years. Compared to my time in school, it was a simple process where education was there. There are so many different things now that are the responsibility of the principal, who reports to the board of management. I welcome the news the Minister is giving us but it is important that we restore the full extent of the assistant principal posts that were lost.

I thank the Deputy. I appreciate and acknowledge every day that more is being asked within our schools. That is of all staff, whether it is the teaching staff, school secretary, caretaker, our SNAs and obviously our school leadership and boards of management, to whom we owe a huge debt of gratitude. In terms of supporting school leadership and the concept of distributed leadership, we have made significant progress. In 2022, as I said, under sectoral bargaining, 1,450 posts of responsibility were made available to primary and special schools. Last year in securing budget for 2024, we made provision for 1,000 posts of responsibility and indeed gave sufficient notification to schools that those posts could be advertised early in the year so those taking them up could be in place for September rather than the delay that has happened previously with interviews and people taking up the posts. I am very conscious of it. We have made progress. I do not at all say that we do not need to make more but we will work on it.

I welcome the Minister's words of encouragement. I agree wholeheartedly with everything she is saying in respect of responsibilities and all of the demands that are now put on the entire school management from top to bottom in national schools, especially in today's world. I am aware of two schools in particular where there are problems. I will send the Minister a note on them separately rather than raising them here. I am coming across the situation more and more that, if a school needs an extension, emergency works or anything like that, there is a massive onus on the school in terms of the responsibility for preparing the reports, engaging and paying consultants and having to know how the whole process of procurement, project management, design and so on work. That in itself is a speciality, might I say. It is important that we support the schools and boards of management in every way we can to make sure education is free in every sense of the word.

I do not disagree with anything the Deputy has said in terms of the importance of supporting schools and ensuring they are free. We have already had this discussion earlier today in terms of access to education and it being free. I already highlighted the supports we provide. These include, free school books, reduced school transport costs, ensuring that there is no payment for junior or leaving certificate examinations, the increased supports to DEIS at around €180 million and the rolling out of the hot school meals. So many different aspects are being provided for. Specifically in terms of the running of the schools, we have increased the capitation so it is now €200 at primary and €345 at post-primary. We have ensured that there was an additional €60 million to support schools, €40 million of which was just paid out this year. In terms of leadership, the Deputy referred to building and all the demands there. We have also worked with supporting patron bodies to put in specific managers and make them available. Costs are being incurred by the Department for that. Equally, we are working with management bodies to ensure that level of support, costed and provided for by the Department, is available to schools on the ground.

I thank Deputy Wynne for her question. The answer will be similar to that given in respect of a previous question.

As I indicated earlier, since 2011, arrangements have been in place for the establishment of new schools involving the forecasting of demand for school places based on demographic exercises carried out by the Department. New schools are only established in areas of demographic growth, as the resources available for school infrastructure have to be prioritised to ensure that every child has a school place. These arrangements give an opportunity to patrons to apply for the patronage of new schools. The criteria used in deciding on the patronage of new schools place a particular emphasis on parental patronage and language preferences, either Irish or English, and an analysis of existing provision, including Irish-medium provision, in the areas where the schools are being established. Most new post-primary schools must have a student enrolment capacity of 600 to 1,000 students. A lower threshold of 400 students is applied for the Gaelcholáistí, having regard to the alternative of establishing an Irish-medium unit, or aonad, in an English-medium school. It is possible for any post-primary school patron to contact my Department to explore the establishment of an aonad in an existing school.

Work on the development of a new policy for Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht is in progress in my Department. This policy will sit within the overall framework of the 20-year strategy for the Irish language and will build on the achievements of the policy on Gaeltacht education. Among the objectives for the new policy are exploring how opportunities for the establishment of Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí can be increased as part of the patronage process. The Department has recently published a series of reports, prepared by the SEALBHÚ research institute in DCU, which will inform the development of the new policy. These reports include a review of international literature on education through the medium of minority languages, reports on the various stages of the public consultation undertaken by my Department to inform policy development, and a series of resulting policy proposals.

In developing the new policy, the Department will draw on those reports, as well as the information shared by stakeholders at bilateral meetings. This information will be considered in light of the existing provision for Irish-medium education and future projections of demand for the education system, having regard to the Department's budgetary and legislative context.

With respect to Ennis, there is sufficient existing and oncoming post-primary school capacity to meet the forecast school place needs in the area.

I thank the Minister. I did not expect this question to be reached. It concerns a matter very close to my heart. There is an opportunity now to address it, with the principal of Ennis Community College moving on from that post. Gaelcholáiste an Chláir has been seeking stand-alone status for 30 years. The Minister said the Department has an openness to addressing the matter. That is great to hear. What is the status of the application that was submitted in March 2021? In response to a previous parliamentary question, the Minister said it was under consideration at that time. Is the application still being considered? In respect of applications and enrolments this year, the point has been made that because Gaelcholáiste an Chláir is only an aonad, and there are many issues that come with that, some parents are choosing to send their children to all-Irish schools outside the county.

I appreciate that sterling work is being done at Gaelcholáiste an Chláir in regard to the promotion of the Irish language. I am aware of the work being done by the staff, the atmosphere that is being cultivated in the aonad and the first-class provision for students. However, the Department must look at the numbers when it receives an application. I acknowledge that an application was received from Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board. We have committed to looking at it. We have highlighted that there are queries we wish to raise specifically in regard to the availability of 52 places. It is a significant availability. Only 22 pupils applied and only 16 accepted a place. I am not saying that is the singular reason we are currently looking into the matter. We have an absolute openness to examining the application and the response from the ETB to see how we can resolve the situation. We are approaching it in a solution-focused way. I acknowledge the importance of the Irish language and of the support we give it and are seen to give it.

It is great to hear an acknowledgement of the issues in Clare and that there is a commitment to resolving them. County Clare has the second highest number of Irish speakers in the country. We have a great history of and love for Irish culture. There is huge potential there that has been missed. Gaelcholáiste an Chláir has done its very best. In some respects, it is a miracle it has survived. Most aonaid close a few years after establishment. Aonaid such as those in Kilkenny and Tralee, both of which had lower numbers than Gaelcholáiste an Chláir, increased their enrolments very quickly once they became stand-alone independent Irish-language schools. It is incredible that Gaelcholáiste an Chláir has not been given the same opportunity. As I said, we have the second highest number of Irish speakers in the country. It would be fantastic for the school to get its own roll number and have a new principal appointed.

I appreciate the case the Deputy has made. I appreciate the case that has been made by Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board and by Gaelcholáiste an Chláir itself. I can only reiterate that there are issues that need to be addressed. In particular, we have identified issues regarding uptake of places. We have an openness to working through those issues. We are positively and favourably disposed towards the establishment, ultimately, of a stand-alone Gaelcholáiste. However, we must address the issues that have been identified.

We have received the proposal from Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board. We will be in communication with the board regarding the clarifications that are needed. We have requested a more detailed proposal. I have absolutely no doubt the board will be forthcoming in its responses. We will work collectively to be positive and proactive in resolving the issues.

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for coming back to this question. I was detained at the meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts. Leanann an cheist seo an pointe atá ardaithe ag an Teachta Wynne. Táim ag cur ceist ar an Aire maidir leis an ngealltanas atá sa chlár Rialtais maidir le polasaí cuimsitheach don Ghaeilge ón réamhscolaíocht go dtí oiliúint múinteoirí. There is a need for a comprehensive policy on Irish language education covering preschool through to tertiary education and teacher education. Will the Minister provide an update in this regard?

The Department is taking a staged approach to developing a comprehensive policy for the Irish language from preschool through to teacher education. There are three strands to this work as it relates to the Department of Education, namely the policy on Gaeltacht education, the policy on Irish-medium education outside the Gaeltacht, and the work commencing on a policy framework and action plan to support Irish in English-medium schools.

Significant progress has been made by my Department in implementing the policy on Gaeltacht education. Since its publication, the policy has contributed to strengthening the delivery of Irish-medium education in Gaeltacht areas. Substantial support has been provided to Gaeltacht schools through the Gaeltacht school recognition scheme. Language-based criteria are set out for schools within the scheme to ensure they are providing a high standard of education through the medium of Irish. An Irish-medium bachelor of education, BEd and masters in education, MEd, in Irish-medium and Gaeltacht education have been established under the policy.

The new policy on Irish-medium education outside the Gaeltacht will build on the achievements of the policy on Gaeltacht education. In developing this new policy, a public consultation process was conducted to gather the views of stakeholders. SEALBHÚ, a research centre in Dublin City University, DCU, has carried out an analysis of the information gathered throughout the consultation. SEALBHÚ was also commissioned to undertake a review of international literature focusing on teaching through minority languages. Insights gleaned from the consultation process and the research undertaken will inform the development of the new policy on Irish-medium education outside the Gaeltacht.

A new unit was recently established within my Department with a remit relating to the Irish language in English-medium schools. The policy framework and action plan to be developed by the new unit will address particular key strategic challenge points where immediate and tangible action is likely to make a difference within a reasonable period. The policy framework and action plan will be informed by national and international research and by extensive consultation with stakeholders at national and school level.

In parallel to the work being carried out by my Department, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is currently developing a national plan on Irish language provision in early learning care and school-age childcare. The Departments are working closely together to ensure all policies are in alignment. Taken together, these policies and initiatives are important steps towards achieving our programme for Government commitment.

I thank the Minister for the update on progress. The clock is ticking. This was one of the programme for Government commitments I was passionate about including. I would like to see the process conclude within the lifetime of the Government. There certainly is a need for it. Deputy Wynne spoke about the need for a Gaelscoil in her area. Deputy Costello, my party colleague, often raises the need for a Gaelscoil to serve Dublin 2, 4, 6 and 8. There is a difficulty in establishing new Gaelscoileanna when new school projects are put out for expressions of public interest in regard to patronage. Often, the need for a Gaelscoil in an area gets drowned out by the need for a multidenominational school.

I am conscious of the spriocanna san Acht teanga ó thaobh earcaíochta de. There is a requirement that 20% of new recruits to the public service have a certain standard of Irish. We need to ensure our education system contributes to achieving that target.

There is a significant commitment from the Department to progressing and supporting the growth of the Irish language. We have deemed it necessary to take a staged approach to this objective. We began with the policy on Gaeltacht education, on which significant progress has been made, including the development of the BEd and MEd, support for international research and supports for schools in obtaining their Gaeltacht recognition certificates. There has been a phenomenal uptake by schools of all of that.

The second stage has been the development of a new unit within the Department of Education that is dedicated to the development of Irish in English-medium schools. The fact we have developed a unit specifically dedicated to that purpose shows our commitment in this regard.

I thank the Minister. I have not heard a timeline as to when we hope to have this work concluded. Is it overly ambitious to think it will be concluded within the lifetime of this Government? I acknowledge that there was a need to separate the strands and make progress on them individually. I support that mode of working, but I would like to know if we have a timeline in place for when we expect the process to be completed.

Returning to the recruitment targets, I would like to see the common European framework used more within our schools. Something I would love to see at transition year level is the teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge, TEG, Maynooth University is putting place. We could have that rolled out to people in order that they know where they are on the ladder. It would be extremely beneficial for recruitment down the road. I would love to see the Irish language included in the terms of reference of a citizens' assembly on education, which, as the Minister will know, is the subject matter of another question I tabled that will not be reached today. The date is the key thing. I would like to know when this is going to happen.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Ó Cathasaigh as an gceist seo a ardú. It brings me back to something that was discussed at the comhchoiste Gaeilge yesterday about ensuring that people we employ to deal with schools in the Gaeltacht and with Gaelcholaistí are proficient in the Irish language. There should be an onus on those advertising jobs to include a requirement in respect of the Irish language. Bhí plé inné ag an gcomhchoiste Gaeilge maidir leis na daoine atá ag plé le scoileanna sa Ghaeltacht agus i nGaelcholáistí go mbeadh Gaeilge riachtanach nuair atá an earcú á dhéanamh. Tá sé sin fíorthábhachtach mar más Gaelcholáiste é nó má tá an scoil sa Ghaeltacht, is pobal Gaeilge é sin agus ba chóir go mbeadh chuile shórt agus chuile dhuine atá ag déileáil leis na scoileanna sin ag labhairt i nGaeilge.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta. Tuigim an tábhacht atá ag baint leis an nGaelainn. Ní hamháin sin ach táimid ag déanamh gach iarracht sa Roinn an Ghaelainn a chaomhnú agus í a chur chun cinn. I have already outlined our support to ensure we are progressing the Irish language. We took the staged stance here. Great progress has been made on the provision of Irish within the Gaeltacht areas. We have, as has been outlined, the need for very strong fluency. We have the BEd, the MEd and the teaching resources that are being provided for the máistir gairmiúil san oideachas, the professional MEd. A significant number of schools have been awared Gaeltacht recognition status.

The second stage is the unit in the Department dedicated to the promotion of Irish in English-medium schools. That is focused on how to support teachers teaching Irish in English-medium schools. The unit will also look at how to support undergraduates, which is important, in the learning and, ultimately, the teaching of Irish. There will be a public consultation on that in the coming year. The final point is the other aspect of concerning preschool and early years is a matter for the Department of children. We are working very closely with it and it is doing a body of work on that as well.

The Minister and I have had a number of discussions about Fermoy Educate Together National School. I visited the place and am sorry to bring it up again, but I am very concerned about the cramped conditions in the school. I am asking the Minister what progress has been made since I brought it up last. Have the officials in the Department examined this matter? Have they looked at possible solutions? I suggested one or two when I spoke with the Minister the last time I raised this.

I thank the Deputy. I acknowledge his ongoing engagement on this matter and that of Deputy O'Connor and the other Deputies who are concerned about it. I appreciate Deputy Stanton and I have had a number of conversations on this.

The school was established in 2018 under the patronage divestment process. Fermoy was one of a number of areas surveyed in 2012 and 2013 under the patronage divesting process where there was sufficient parental demand supporting changes in school patronage. The areas surveyed were areas where demographics were not growing and therefore it was unlikely a new multidenominational school would be established for demographic reasons. That is important. It was acknowledged at the time there might be a demographic need for the school, but there was a choice need from a parental point of view. The clear policy on patronage divesting was to use existing educational infrastructure to facilitate provision of diversity in areas where there was no demographic imperative. The reason for this approach was the imperative, which is equally valid now as it was then, to focus the schools capital programme on the provision of additional mainstream and special education school places at both primary and post-primary levels to ensure every pupil can access a school place.

As part of the process of identifying a suitable accommodation solution that would facilitate the establishment of the school, the Department liaised with Cork Education and Training Board, ETB. In order to facilitate the establishment of the new school, the ETB agreed to the co-location of the Educate Together school at the former technical school in Fermoy, together with some of the ETB’s further education and training services. Prior to the establishment of the new school in 2018 under the patronage divesting process, the Department and Educate Together, as school patron, agreed that given the accommodation available at the property and the need for the ETB to accommodate some further education and training services from the property, the school would be established as a four-classroom school and would maintain this configuration in the accommodation in the former technical school unless an existing school building was freed up for use in the area. As part of this engagement, the Department outlined to the school patron the importance of enrolments being managed within the available accommodation in a sustainable way and that this would be communicated to the school's board of management so parents could be fully informed and in order to manage the situation going forward.

I thank the Minister for her response and her interest in this matter. Does she agree that things have moved on in the interim? Does she also agree that because of the popularity of the school, the professionalism of the teachers and the desire of more and more parents to send their children there, numbers are growing and that there is a need to look again at the agreement that was arrived at? This was the first school I taught in 46 years ago, if the Minister can believe it. That is a long time. I know the place well, but it is extremely cramped. The Minister of State should note that there is also pressure to have an autism class in the school. The latter is impossible to accommodate because it is so cramped. There is no space. They are teaching in cupboards and working in very small rooms that are way below the statutory requirements for classrooms nowadays. There is a space in the interim to possibly put some Portakabins on site to relieve the pressure, but I put it to the Minister that in the longer term a new building is needed. Will she get her officials to look at this as soon as possible?

I thank the Deputy very much. For absolute clarity, I reiterate that when the school was inaugurated in 2018, this was done under the patronage divesting process. There was an agreement with the patron of the Educate Together school and the ETB that it would be a shared campus and the school would be capped at the numbers at the time, in a four-classroom school, until additional accommodation became available. That was the agreement. It was signed up to on behalf of the school by the patron. Somewhere along the line that understanding and clarity have been lost. I reiterate that there was an agreement signed up to by the patron on behalf of the school and that agreement stands until something else becomes available. For whatever reason, we are in the situation we are in now and I recognise that.

I want to move the situation forward. A technical assessment has recently taken place. We will evaluate that technical assessment. I have asked the building officer for Educate Together to engage with the school on the ground. We will continue to engage, but there was a clear, signed agreement by a patron on behalf of the school.

I appreciate that and agree with the Minister there was an agreement, but I also believe, and she might also, that things have moved on now and parental choice is coming in here in a big way. There is a big demand in the area for this particular school as it is a very successful and popular school. I again put it to the Minister that there is an interim solution available. The Department of Education, I understand, owns the property and the Minister said it is until something else comes along or is made available. That is possible now with a bit of support from the Department in the short term. In the longer term, I put it to the Minister we need to move beyond that agreement, which is outdated because of the numbers in the school, the demand for places and the choice parents want to make.

Again, we want to be helpful here. It is for that reason we ensured a technical assessment would take place to see if we can find a pathway forward. There was the request to the building officer from Educate Together to engage with the school on the ground. We want to move a step forward. However it is important - and I do not always hear this element being recognised or admitted to in discussions I have heard in other contexts - that there was an agreement in the first instance with the patron on behalf of the school to cap the school numbers at a particular level to suit the accommodation available. That agreement was unequivocal. There was absolute clarity on it. What happened in the intervening time is not the fault of the Department of Education and in the interests of fairness all round, when that matter and the issue pertaining to this school is being discussed, that should also be part of the discussion.