Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for taking this Topical Issues matter. Last year I was contacted by a school in my constituency in the Gaeltacht of An Rinn, Scoil Náisiúnta na Rinne. The principal, Aodh Mac Craith, outlined to me that he had difficulty filling a vacancy in the school. Given that permanent teaching jobs in good schools are hard to come by and the numbers on the teaching panel, one would think there would be no difficulty in filling the position, especially in a place as lovely as County Waterford. The principal told me teachers were contacting him saying they were afraid of getting the job because their Irish was not good enough to teach in a Gaeltacht school.

It is nonsense to expect teachers who are not comfortable teaching entirely through Irish to be engaged in such circumstances, particularly to children who were born into families where Irish is their first language in Gaeltacht communities. Scoil Náisiúnta na Rinne teaches such children, may of whom are more comfortable speaking Irish than English. The principal said he had received at least 16 e-mails from worried teachers. These candidates said they would love the job but did not have the level of Irish required. This was a major dilemma for the school and for those on the panel who feared they would lose their teaching rights if they refused a job which they felt unable to do. It was a catch-22 for everybody.

The school principal brought the case to local politicians and on to the Department of Education and Skills. When it was first highlighted with me there was not even a box that candidates could tick on their panel forms to indicate whether or not they could speak Irish. Through interventions from the school in Rinn and others such a box has been added, however there is no provision for candidates to indicate whether they are sásta to carry out their duties in Irish. Being willing to teach in Irish does not always mean a person would be good at it. The Gaelscoileanna, like all schools, deserve the best teachers who can teach to the best of their abilities. Would the Minister be happy for an English-speaking school to endure teachers whose first language was not English and who were not proficient in it?

We have a duty to ensure, particularly in Gaeltacht areas, that children have teachers who have the ability to teach in the language of the school and are comfortable doing so.

The case of Scoil Náisiúnta na Rinne was brought to An Coimisinéir Teanga last year and he agreed with its case and even highlighted it in his retirement speech last year, stating it was a classic example of the language being undermined. Yesterday, there was a similar example with a Gaelscoil in Sligo, which had to turn away an entire class of 30 pupils because of a teacher issue. This is not fair to schools or teachers and it does not show respect to our Irish language. The panel must make allowances for teachers with the best Irish and not just those who are willing to teach in Irish.

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