Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community
Éileamh don Ghaelscolaíocht: Plé
Mr. Vincent Hussey:
I will answer in English. Let us imagine the policy has changed. Is the Department capable of delivering this? We now have 20,000 special needs assistants in schools. They were unheard of 20 years ago. That shows an enormous ability to mobilise. Can we find the teachers? Yes, we can, if we decide to.
Regarding the parental choice, we have mentioned the first past the post voting system. In Northern Ireland, they use the D'Hondt principle for assigning the seats in the Executive. That same principle could be used where you have existing schools to find what best matches people's aspirations. Again, the Department of Education completed 493 major building projects in the past 15 years. I will share one final thought. In Wales, they have pursued education through Welsh and up to 30% of students are educated through Welsh now for their full educational experience.
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