Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

When will the 200 teachers which the Minister announced in November and re-announced last Friday come on stream? Where will they be located and what level of training do they have? Have they received training in language support teaching or just the general training all teachers receive? The Minister will be aware of Scoil Bhríde in Blanchardstown which has 150 international pupils and three language support teachers and Scoil Mhuire in Lucan which has 70 international pupils and two language support teachers. This situation is replicated in schools not only in Dublin city but throughout the country.

Has the Minister any intention of overhauling the allocation? She spoke about it before but she has not given a clear commitment as to whether she will change the rules she outlined in terms of the allocation of teachers. Does she have any plans to scrap the two-year rule? This is about ensuring children have a proper standard of English. What one child may learn in two years, another child might take longer to learn so the rule in place is extremely unfair to some children. What are the Minister's views on that?

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