Tá mé fíor-bhuíoch díot as ucht cead a thabhairt dom an fhadhb seo a ardú ar an athló sa Dáil. Tá brón orm nach bhfuil an tAire í féin anseo chun freagra a thabhairt ar an gceist thábh achtach seo. Séard atá i gceist anseo na easpa múinteoirí i scoil náisiúnta Pháirc an Doire, scoil inar tógadh isteach dhá iarscoileanna a bhí i Seana Fearacháin agus i Finney.
I regret the Minister is not present to respond to this debate.
Derrypark is situated at the eastern end of Tourmakeady, County Mayo and the school has been amalgamated with two others, those of Seanafarraghaun and Finney, Claremorris, County Mayo. If the teacher numbers are reduced to a single teacher school in September as per the present regulations, the heart will be torn out of this wild but beautiful area of County Mayo.
This problem will continue to arise in various other parts of the country on a more frequent basis as the natural and school going population declines. The ESRI report concluded that there would be a reduction of 25 per cent in the school going population in the next ten years. If the Minister allows this drop in teacher numbers to proceed, and if the Department insists on further amalgamations within the school area, this parochial centre will die.
There are, however, a number of causes for hope. First, this concession was allowed 12 or 13 years ago when numbers were at a similar level and a reprieve was given to this school. Second, there is employment both in the factory at Killatiane, in the factory at Tourmakeady and, on an increasing scale, at Cornamona in County Galway. In addition, there have been a number of queries under the rural resettlement programme. A family from England are due to inspect a house in the area on Sunday as are a number of other families between now and mid-summer. It may well be that other children will be pupils of Derrypark school by 30 September.
It can be concluded that the Government would appear to be in breach of Article 8 of our Constitution which states that the Irish language, as the national language, is the first official language. This is the last all-Irish Gaeltacht school in this area. Irish is a natural, living, indigenous language. The inspectors reports in the Department of Education show that the standard of spoken Irish and the standard of taught Irish is very high. This will be lost if future families who might wish to reside here are left with a one teacher school.
Under the Constitution the Government should do all in its power to preserve and maintain the Irish language. Special concessions are given to all-Irish schools in non-Irish speaking areas. Why not give an additional concession for one year at least to the Derrypark school, which is in a fíor Gaeltacht. People in the area continue to speak the living language in their daily lives. I ask for special consideration for this and a number of other schools where a similar situation obtains.
I cannot stress how dear this matter is to my heart and to the hearts of a great number of people. We do not want to see an institution that has existed for hundreds of years crucified by a regulation of the Department of Education. Ministerial action in this regard will breed new life into this area and will allow those who want to continue living there, and those who may wish to live there in future, the freedom to do so in the knowledge that the Government is complying with the Constitution by doing everything possible to preserve the language.
