Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 October 2018
127. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Education and Skills to outline the work that has been undertaken with stakeholders in the establishment of 42 new schools with regard to the consideration that is to be given to the establishment of Gaelscoileanna, Gaelcholáistí and Aonaid Lán-Ghaeilge as part of the new patronage process; the stakeholders who have been contacted; and the number of occasions in this regard. [42792/18]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, my Department recently announced plans for the establishment of 42 new schools over the next four years (2019 to 2022).
When it is decided that a new school is required to meet demographic needs in an area, my Department runs a separate patronage process to decide who will operate the school. The language of instruction of a proposed new school is an integral part of the patronage assessment and recommendation process. It is open to all patron bodies and prospective patrons, including patrons involved in Irish-medium provision and indeed any prospective patron which wishes to provide Irish-medium education, to apply for patronage of a new school under the patronage process. Parental preferences for each patron and their separate preference in relation to the language of instruction of the school, from parents of children who reside in the school planning areas concerned, together with the extent of diversity currently available in these areas, are key to decisions in relation to the outcome of this process. The assessment process includes an analysis of the extent of diversity including language, already available in an area and in the adjacent school planning areas.
The patronage process for new schools is overseen by an external independent advisory group, the New Schools Establishment Group (NSEG). Following their consideration of my Department’s assessment reports, the NSEG submits a report with recommendations to me for my consideration and final decision. The assessment reports and the NSEG recommendations for all such patronage processes are made available on my Department's website www.education.ie.
An Online Patronage Process System (OPPS) has been developed by my Department to provide objective information to parents in the relevant school planning areas which will allow them to make an informed choice about their preferred model of patronage and their preferred language medium for their child’s education. Parental preferences were previously collected based on direct engagement with patron bodies. The Online Patronage Process System (OPPS) opened in June 2018 for the four post-primary schools to be established in 2019. The Patronage Process for the primary schools to be established in 2019 will commence later this year.
Separately, the Schools Reconfiguration for Diversity process is aimed at accelerating the delivery of multi-denominational and non-denominational schools towards the Government target of reaching 400 such schools by 2030. The new plans are designed to provide multi-/non-denominational schools by way of patronage transfer of existing schools. An opportunity is available to English-medium schools seeking to make a transition to Gaelscoil provision in that context, in line with the expressed wishes of parents and the local school community.
