I would like to ask the Minister, with reference to the question of secondary teachers who joined the Army and in respect of which we had some discussion here some time ago, whether he has come to any conclusion to allow service in the Army to count towards increment? The second point is that a lot has been said in the general debate about the position with regard to the Irish language. The Minister has particularly indicated how unsatisfactory the position with regard to the language teachers is in the higher stages. On the secondary school side, there are three classes of schools—schools in which Irish is the sole medium of instruction, schools in which the time devoted to Irish is not less than that devoted to English and schools which teach a subject or two through the medium of Irish.
On the economic aspect of the question, during the last couple of years a special increase has been given in the capitation grant to those schools. At the same time, we have complaints that no assistance is given outside the homes in the work of the restoration of the language as the ordinary spoken language. To my mind, if there is any part of the whole scheme where really solid work is hoped for and is being done, it is in the Grade A schools, that is, in those schools where the whole work is done through the medium of Irish.
If the policy is to restore Irish as a spoken language, and if the difficulties the Minister finds himself up against are so great, how does he bring himself to stop or cut down the grants now in the case of secondary schools where the whole work of secondary education through the medium of Irish is being thoroughly and satisfactorily done? I raise this question particularly in regard to the Grade A schools. If we are to have more of that class, the next schools to become Grade A schools will be the B 1—or some of them, at any rate. The only interpretation I can put on the Minister's action in cutting down these grants is that there are schools claiming to be A and B 1 and C 2 which are not qualified to be so, and that the Minister is rather trying to discourage them and let them fall away. If that is so—and that is the impression one would get—these schools should be advised that they are attempting something they are not prepared for. However, where there are secondary schools carrying out the whole of their work through the medium of Irish, thoroughly inspected by the Department, and where the inspector is satisfied that the work is being well done, the full 25 per cent. grant should be given.
It is impossible to understand the cut, and the whole position with regard to the Departmental outlook on the work done in the schools for the language, and the relationship between that and the restoration of the spoken language in the families outside. The Department can have no grip on it and the Minister can have no grip on it either. If the policy still is to use Irish where the circumstances are favourable, where the pupils are ready for it and where the teachers are qualified, as the sole medium of education —and that certainly should be fostered —I know schools carrying on this work, where they have been put in a struggling position simply because these grants have been reduced. That is one of the actions which prevents any understanding of the position. Does the Minister really think he is doing the right thing when he cuts grants in these ways? We hope these schools may grow, that they may extend their premises and the number of their teachers. We hope they may attract additional pupils, and, if the Irish language is to flourish, schools like these must attract additional students. Any possibility of expansion is choked in many of these cases through lack of capital and through the cutting down of grants which they received in the past. That reduction is very poor recompense for their work and a poor sign of the Department's outlook and its encouragement of their work. It is a blow to the development of these schools.
When I review the whole situation and see all the complaints that were made and all the difficulties spoken of, the one spot in the whole situation that stands out and gives firm ground for hope is the Grade A schools. They should receive more consideration in the general scheme than, apparently, the Minister has given them, if the reduction of the grants is a sign of the Ministerial outlook on their position in regard to the use of Irish as a factor in education and the spread of Irish as an ordinary spoken tongue.
