Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support Teachta Catherine Martin, too, on the amendment, but we have to be very careful. There is a large number of Gaelscoileanna. While there are areas of the country that are still Gaeltacht areas, there are others that are not but there are people living in them who are interested in having their children educated through the medium of Irish. Therefore, we have to be very careful in how we balance the provision. We have Galescoil Chluain Meala, Gaelscoil Charraig Na Siuire, Gaelscoil Thiobraid Arann and Gaelscoil Aonach Urmhumhan. There has been a lot of interest in and work done during the years in trying to find sites on which to build and seeking approval for different stages of construction and renovation projects, most of which started with little. They were beag ar fad. Some started in a room in a private house and then expanded and mushroomed. Some questioned whether it was elitist that people in some areas wanted their children to go to a Gaelscoil, not for the teanga or culture but to be in smaller classes. People chose with their feet. It is important that we acknowledge the role played by and the interest shown by the people involved and what they want to do in these schools.

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