asked the Minister for Education if she will give details of the third level institutions which require Irish students to pass Leaving Certificate Irish in order to gain entry to the institution, irrespective of the course they are studying.
301.
Written Answers. - Entry Requirements for Third Level Institutions.
273.
asked the Minister for Education the third level institutions in the State which require Irish in the Leaving Certificate as a blanket requirement for entry to any of their faculties, apart from the National University of Ireland and the primary teacher training colleges.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 273 and 301 together.
Responsibility for entry requirements to third level VEC colleges rests with the college authorities and the relevant validating bodies. I understand, however, that in the regional technical colleges English or Irish at Leaving Certificate level are required for entry purposes with the exception of the Staidéar Gnó course in Galway RTC and the Staidéar Rúnaíochta in Letterkenny where Irish at Leaving Certificate level is required. In the third level colleges administered under the aegis of the City of Dublin VEC Irish is not required for entry purposes.
With certain exceptions Irish is a necessary requirement for matriculation purposes in order to qualify for entry to the constituent colleges of the National University of Ireland, i.e. UCC, UCD, UCG and St. Patrick's College, Maynooth which is a recognised college.
Irish is also an obligatory entry requirement for admission to the primary teacher-training colleges and to Thomond College of Education, Limerick.
In the case of Trinity College, Dublin Irish is not a necessary requirement, except where a particular course in Irish Studies is being pursued.
Irish is not an obligatory subject for entry to the National Institutes for Higher Education, Limerick and Dublin. Grade D or a higher grade in higher or ordinary level Leaving Certificate Irish is among the requirements for entry to
1. St. Angela's College of Education for Home Economics
2. St. Catherine's College of Education for Home Economics.