Peadar Tóibín
Question:9Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on whether his Department’s five year building plan is discriminatory against second level Gaelscoileanna. [25775/12]
View answerThursday, 24 May 2012
Questions (10, 11)
Peadar Tóibín
Question:38Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department has attempted to assess the demographic need for second level Gaelscoileanna in the various areas of the country; and if this has been included in his Department’s five year education building programme. [25774/12]
View answerOral answers (3 contributions)
I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 38 together.
The five-year plan is not discriminatory against second level gaelcholáistí. I advise the Deputy that there are ten major building projects included in the five-year plan for post-primary schools delivering tuition through the medium of Irish. In June last year I announced a new process and criteria for the establishment of new second level schools. As part of this, an initial decision was to be made on whether the new schools would operate through the medium of Irish or English, having regard to existing and planned all-Irish provision at primary and second level in the areas concerned. Three of the 17 new post-primary schools to be established by 2014 will be gaelcholáistí. In addition, the five-year plan contains a further seven major projects for schools that provide for tuition through the medium of Irish. These projects will provide additional places to meet future demand for tuition through the medium of Irish as part of the overall five-year plan priority to meet demographic need.
Some 27% of primary and 38% of secondary Irish-medium schools are on the waiting list for the refurbishment of buildings, yet they have not been included in the five-year plan. Without inclusion in the programme, many of these schools face an uncertain future. It is unacceptable that 60% of Irish-medium schools established in the past 25 years are in temporary accommodation. These are in addition to those schools that have secured permanent buildings but have since outgrown them.
I understand that inclusion in the building plan is based primarily on attendance numbers and populations. It seems to me that particular consideration should apply to the Irish medium sector, otherwise the system is inherently and systematically flawed and discriminatory against second level gaelscoileanna. The same argument could be made with regard to minority faith schools. This failure to include an adjusted criteria for Irish-medium sector education goes against the ethos of the 20-year strategy for the Irish language, which sets to defend the Irish-medium schools. The unsuitability of many gaelscoil buildings is a significant barrier which greatly restricts the growth of the schools and subsequently the expansion of the wider Irish language community.
We could give a number of examples, including Gaelscoil Mhic Amhlaigh in Cnoc na Cathrach in Galway. It serves an expanding population and already accommodates 450 students and with improved facilities it could significantly increase its pupil intake. However, it is not included in the capital building programme. When the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, was questioned on the matter, he stated there would need to be a new primary school east and west of Galway City, but he refused to clarify whether those new schools would cater for children wishing to be taught as Gaeilge. We need to take another look at the role of the gaelscoileanna in terms of the 20-year plan for the promotion of the Irish language. These schools are not the same as other schools. Their catchment areas are different and they do not have a 100% catchment population on which to draw. We need an adjustment of the criteria.
I recognise what the Deputy is saying and refer to my earlier response. There is more in the pipeline now in terms of gaelcholáistí at second level than was previously the case. The future for the provision of Irish-medium teaching in both the primary and secondary sector is quite healthy. The difficulty, as the Deputy rightly pointed out, is that the catchment area, by definition, is different from that of people who wish to be taught through the medium of English.