Mr. Paul Byrne:

In 2019, responsibility for granting exemptions from Irish moved from the Department to school principals. The 2022 circular has added new clauses to that. The Chair has asked how long such an application process will take. When a parent makes a request for an Irish-language exemption, it must be put in writing. The principal must then have a meeting with the parents, and must then meet with each of the teachers in the school, if the request is on the basis that the child has additional or persistent learning difficulties. The principal must satisfy himself or herself that, first, all possible interventions to improve the child’s learning have been put in place and have not been sufficient to bring the child’s level of understanding, comprehension or literacy up to a point where they are able to continue with the study of Irish.

Irish-language exemptions are only granted in line with what is in the circular. The difficulty is that it is easy to grant an exemption, but it is when it is not granted to parents that an issue arises. I have been in that position in the past. The big change happened in 2019 because before that, one was expected to get a psychological or educational report which was sent into the Department, along with other documentation, and the decision was then made there. Now, the onus is on the principal to ensure that every effort has been made to keep the child, firstly, studying Irish and to give the child whatever support is needed. If, then, it is in the best interests of the child - and that is where the decisions are made - then the principal communicates to the parents that the díolúine is to be granted.

If on the other hand, however, it is not granted, the principal has to inform the parents of that, and also inform them of the appeals process, which is now very firmly in place in the 2022 circular. I hope that has answered the question or that I have answered the right question.