Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

Ta céad fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit arís. Tá mé thar a bheith buíoch de faoi theacht isteach le freagra a thabhairt ar an gceist atá árdaithe agam anocht. Baineann an cheist leis an maoiniú a bhí ar fáil dos na hábhair oidí atá ins na coláistí oiliúna agus a bhéas ag múineadh inár gcuid bunscoileanna amach anseo.

Mar chuid de gach cúrsa bunmhúinteoireachta - agus brisfidh mé isteach i mBéarla i gcionn nóiméad chomh maith - caithfidh na daoine atá ag freastal ar an gcúrsa tréimhse trí seachtainí a chaitheamh san nGaeltacht le feabhas a chur ar a gcuid Gaeilge agus le heolas a chur ar shaol agus ar chultúr na Gaeltachta. Tá an maoiniú le haghaidh sin gearrtha dos na coláistí ag an Aire. Tá mé ag iarraidh fáil amach an bhfuil sé fós mar bhunriachtanas don chéim go gcaithfeadh na mic léinn an chuid seo den chúrsa a dhéanamh. Ma tá, cé tá chun íoc as?

I am raising the issue of primary school teachers who, when doing their training courses, have to spend three weeks in the Gaeltacht to improve their Irish and become knowledgeable about its culture and lifestyle. The Minister recently announced there has been a cut in the budget to allow them to do that. I am seeking clarification from him on this issue because it is still a prerequisite for teaching degrees that students have to do this part of the course. Who is going to pay for that? If students have to pay for it, it is estimated it will cost €750 per student, which is an extra cost to student teachers.

I echo some of the Minister's words. He mentioned that we need to look at things from a qualitative point of view, and not just at the metrics. This is an issue where we need to do that. There is a 20 year strategy for the Irish language which all parties in these Houses accepted and are fully supportive of. It was developed under the previous Government. It has been taken on board by the new Government and we have been told over and over again that the Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is fully supportive of and intends to implement the strategy.

This decision completely contravenes the ethos and word of the strategy and flies completely in its face. The 20 year strategy for the Irish language recommends that student teachers should follow a defined programme of language teaching in the Gaeltacht and that the tuition time and attendance of student teachers who attend such courses should be increased.

It also flies in the face of best practice, as outlined by the Teaching Council, in its new guidelines published for the teacher training colleges. One of its recommendations is that programmes should provide for an extended and re-conceptualised Gaeltacht residency which will now form part of the overall programme and be under the direct jurisdiction of the teacher education providers.

The strategy the Government told us it is fully supportive of and the Teaching Council recommends is that not only should these courses be kept but that they should be increased and improved. The funding has been pulled. I appreciate we are in straitened economic times but this is a very shortsighted cutback. People like Éamonn Mac Niallais, spokesperson for Guth na Gaeltachta, have said that the long-term effects of this shortsighted decision will cost the State even more money to put right when future teachers no longer have the standard of Irish to teach the language in our schools.

There is grave concern out there. The comprehensive study of the Irish language in the Gaeltacht, which was done in 2007 under the auspices of NUIG, indicated the language would die if we did not address at as a matter of urgency within 20 years.

One of the major issues was education. A sub-committee is implementing the 20 year strategy. It comprises members from the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. They are supposed to be looking at these issues. Did they discuss this issue before the cutback was made? This is a metric which does not consider the qualitative nature of the course, even taking on board the principles and policy of the Government.

This is also very important from a Gaeltacht perspective. It is an important industry which provides income for mná na tí who keep students and run the courses at a very economical rate. I ask the Minister of State to reply and reconsider the decision, and convey our concerns to the Minister, Deputy Quinn.