I thank the Chair for the opportunity to raise this matter. In raising it I am returning to a theme I have raised previously on the Adjournment and on Question Time. I feel genuinely committed to the issue as I think primary schools in Gaeltacht areas are experiencing educational discrimination. I have no doubt that in time reality will dawn. I have raised this matter with the Minister, the Minister of State, and their predecessors and I will continue to raise it until that disadvantage is resolved.
A number of years ago Ballingeary which is in a Gaeltacht area, lost a primary school and that was when I first became aware in a very practical way of the educational disadvantage in terms of funding and pupil-teacher ratio which primary schools in Gaeltacht areas suffer relative to their counterparts, the Gaelscoileanna. It must be remembered that pupils entering Gaelscoileanna do so of the one mind, willing to embrace Irish, and State policy is supportive. However, in many Gaeltacht communities throughout the country, something I am sure the Minister of State will appreciate, pupils enter primary schools, some of whom speak Irish as their mother tongue, some of whom, like the majority of pupils, have a sympathy towards but not a great familiarity with Irish while in many Gaeltacht regions a significant portion of pupils are non-nationals and have no familiarity with the language. Because of this there is a significant educational disadvantage in classrooms in Gaeltacht primary schools which can only be resolved through a commitment to providing them with a pupil-teacher ratio, capitation and all other supports similar to the most favourable levels pertaining in Gaelscoileanna.
This problem has again raised its head in my constituency in the Gaeltacht primary school in Baile Mhuirne. I understand from research I have carried out that there are three primary schools in Gaeltacht areas in a similar situation, namely, in Ring in County Waterford, in Baile Mhuirne and in County Donegal. I know Rome was not built in a day and I understand the consequences of delivering equalisation between primary schools in Gaeltacht areas and Gaelscoileanna in one fell swoop is not on. However, there should be a phased approach which would show Gaeltacht primary schools that the disadvantage they are under is recognised and will be tackled in a manner which will not deliver a similar pupil-teacher ratio overnight but which will guarantee that until such time as enrolment drops below the enrolment level required in Gaelscoileanna the number of teachers currently serving in Gaeltacht primary schools will not be reduced.
For the primary school in Baile Mhuirne to retain the teacher who is about to be lost on 1 September 1999 it would be necessary to have had an enrolment of 155 pupils. However, the enrolment in September 1998 was 146. This is the figure necessary to retain six teachers and one remedial teacher. In Gaelscoileanna, 122 pupils are necessary to retain six teachers. Because of all the other factors found in a classroom in a primary school in a Gaeltacht area, I firmly believe the pupils in the Gaeltacht are at a significant educational disadvantage relative to those in Gaelscoileanna, quite apart from the more favourable pupil-teacher ratio.
In the context of Baile Mhuirne and all Gaeltacht primary schools, where some parents of pupils speak to their children through Irish while some have a passing knowledge or are not familiar with the language, I am asking the Minister to move towards equalisation over a period of years and for a commitment that the services of individual teachers will not be withdrawn until such time as enrolment drops below the figure required in Gaelscoileanna.
I give notice to the Minister and the Department that I will continue to pursue this matter until it is satisfactorily resolved.
