Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 March 2017
248. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 484 of 2 February 2016, if he has made a decision on the matter; if not, when he expects to make a decision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12871/17]
View answerThe Deputy is aware that the Teaching Council were asked to examine and advise on entry requirements to programmes of initial teacher education, including the Gaeltacht entry scheme to the Bachelor of Education.
The existing Gaeltacht entry scheme allows for the reservation of up to 10% of places in the colleges of education for Gaeltacht applicants. To qualify as a Gaeltacht applicant a person must be resident in an officially designated Gaeltacht area and it must be confirmed that the normal language of the home is Irish.
The 20 year strategy for the Irish Language proposes that up to 20% of places in colleges of education would be retained for students educated through Irish in Gaeltacht schools and gaelscoileanna, with students in English medium schools also being eligible, subject to a high performance threshold in Irish in the Leaving Certificate.
The Teaching Council has submitted its advice and it is currently being considered by my Department. The Action Plan for Education for 2017 contains a commitment to progress this recommendation.
