Mr. Paul Crone:

Tá lúcháir orm a bheith anseo inniu chun labhairt faoi dhíolúintí na Gaeilge. Caithfidh mé mo leithscéal a ghabháil leis an gcoiste nach leor an leibhéal líofachta atá agam sa Ghaeilge chun an cur i láthair seo a thabhairt agus go gcaithfidh mé athrú go Béarla anois. I thank the Chairperson and members of the committee for the invitation to present here today. I am the director of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, NAPD, which is the professional association for post-primary school leaders in Ireland and provides a united voice for principals and deputy principals on issues of common concern across all three post-primary sectors.

Circular 0053/2019 put in place new procedures for granting exemptions from the study of Irish, thereby placing the responsibility for granting exemptions on principals. Circular 0055/2022 reinforced the 2019 decision that principals make the decision and put in place an appeals mechanism for parents. I will speak from a practical perspective to identify how these changes have impacted on current practices and on principals, as well as to outline some of the challenges facing schools as they endeavour to navigate the Irish exemptions procedures. I must stress at the outset that each school leader puts the best interests of the student at the centre of every decision that is made.

Traditionally, many students arrived at post-primary school with an Irish exemption certificate, the application process for which was completed in primary school. In the small number of cases where that did not happen in primary school, the post-primary school processed the paperwork to apply for the exemption from the study of Irish. This was generally done by the special education needs co-ordinator or guidance counsellor in the school and overseen by the principal, who signed off on the application on the basis of the information provided. The application would then have been forwarded to Department of Education for a decision to be made.

In recent times, since 2019, students have been arriving at post-primary school without the completed paperwork regarding their Irish exemption and may, or may not, have participated in the study of Irish in their primary school. What tends to happen now in such cases is that the request for an exemption from the study of Irish is made to the post-primary school principal when the student arrives in first year or when he or she approaches the preparations for the State exams. This is, of course, in line with the requirements of the circular, but it has resulted in a significant increase in applications to principals by parents seeking an exemption from the study of Irish for their child.

Before 2019, principals did not directly undertake the work regarding exemptions from the study of Irish but were kept informed by the staff in their school, and they had oversight of the process and the information. The current procedures have created a huge administrative workload for principals that cannot be delegated to other staff under the terms of the circular. This requires a significant investment of time by principals in order to process applications and any subsequent appeals that are made.

Since 2019, the significant increase in the number of applications by parents for exemptions from the study of Irish has had a significant negative impact on the administrative workload of principals. While the criteria outlined in the circular for an exemption are clear and require evidence, many principals are reporting that some parents are very insistent, even if the evidence is insufficient to receive an exemption from the study of Irish for their child. This discussion, explanation and negotiation with the parent requires considerable time and energy on the part of principals when, it could be argued, this time and energy could be better spent elsewhere.

Irish is a core subject, which is why it requires an official exemption process. No similar process is required for modern foreign languages, MFLs, as they are not compulsory subjects. Many students choose MFL subjects as they are a matriculation requirement for some third level courses. Indeed, an MFL is a requirement, along with Irish, for the leaving certificate vocational programme, LCVP. School leaders inform us that a number of students who are exempt from the study of Irish continue with the study of MFLs for varying reasons.

The status of Irish in our current system requires careful consideration to ensure the protection of the intended impact of this core subject. When a student is exempted from the study of Irish, very often they will avail of learning support during the time the other students are studying Irish. However, in an increasing number of cases, students and their parent may look to substitute another subject in place of Irish in line with the terms of the circular. This causes a particular difficulty for schools as they do not receive the allocation of additional teachers to provide this option for students. Therefore, schools are left trying to accommodate students from within existing allocation resources. In addition, when schools schedule Irish classes concurrently on the timetable to group students who are exempt from the study of Irish together, in order to maximise efficiencies in teacher allocation, this can cause significant difficulties when trying to fit everything into the timetable. It can often be disruptive to the scheduling of other subjects on the timetable.

This is just a flavour of the issues arising as schools endeavour to implement the procedures around Irish exemptions. I thank committee members for listening. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to remain in the meeting as we are opening our national conference at 2 p.m. today in Galway at which my presence is required.

The deputy director, Paul Byrne, is very experienced and will be available and happy to answer any questions the committee may have. Go raibh míle maith ag an gcomhchoiste.