Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Ar dtús, ba mhaith liom a rá go bhfuil ard-mheas agam don Ghaeilge. Fuaireas mo chuid oideachais ina iomlán trí Gaeilge i gColáiste Íosagáin, Baile Bhúirne. Bhíos ann mar bhí an rogha ag mo thuismitheoirí mise a chur go Baile Bhúirne nó aon scoil eile. Bhí ard-mheas acu agus agamsa, áfach, don Ghaeilge agus sin an fáth go ndeachaigh mé go scoil lán-Gaelach i mBaile Bhúirne. An fadhb atá ann anois ná nach bhfuil aon rogha ag tuismitheoiríó Chorca Dhuibhne oideachas a fháil dá leanaí ach i bPobalscoil Corca Dhuibhne. Níl rogha acu ach oideachas lán-Gaelach. Níl an díospóireacht seo ar siúl i dtaobh Gaeilge nó Béarla, ach i dtaobh oideachas agus rogha.

Since the beginning of the year children at Pobailscoil Corca Dhuibhne have been taught solely through the medium of Irish. This system caters for students with a full command of written and spoken Irish, but the vast majority of students living in the area are not fluent enough to adhere to this strict regime. In March 2007 a survey was carried out by teachers at the CBS school in Dingle in which pupils were asked if they had answered questions on their mock exam papers through Irish or English and the reasons for their choice. Of 33 junior certificate students surveyed, 26 had answered through English and seven through Irish. In the case of leaving certificate students, all 21 surveyed had answered through English. This survey was not sanctioned by the school but the results were distributed in the presence of Department of Education and Science facilitator, Mr. Austin Corcoran. The Department is now fully aware of the enforcement of the all-Irish policy, since the Children's Ombudsman, the Equality Tribunal and parents contacted it with their concerns. Parents see this as an educational matter and are extremely concerned for the welfare of their children.

While Pobailscoil Corca Dhuibhne is located in a Gaeltacht area, the fact remains that Dingle is as cosmopolitan a town as any other in the country. Some 30 nationalities are represented there. Annascaul is in the catchment area of Pobailscoil Corca Dhuibhne, where children in national schools have been taught totally through the medium of English. This all-Irish policy should be reviewed. There is discrimination against students in the catchment area of the school. Parents are worried because their children are coming home from school distressed. It has never happened before that 160 students went on strike and protested and 240 students signed a petition asking that Irish and English be used in the school.

There is a myth that the two schools which amalgamated taught only through Irish. That is incorrect. When the fine new school was built parents and students expected that it would continue to be bilingual. In September when the children returned to school they discovered that the teaching was all through Irish. If there was an alternative one could consider that but the only alternative is for those who are not blás as Gaeilge to go to Tralee which is 31 miles from Dingle town and 50 miles from Dún Chaoin. The Minister cannot offer that as an alternative to the parents and children of Pobalschoil Corca Dhuibhne catchment area.

If this continues the Minister says that anyone who wants to move into the Gaeltacht area of Corca Dhuibhne must stop at Annascaul. If they or their children are not proficient in Irish they must stop there and go to school in Tralee. I listened to the Minister for Education and Science on "Questions and Answers" last night when she used the words "inclusion" and "discrimination". In this case there is discrimination against the students of the catchment area of Pobalscoil Corca Dhuibhne. I ask the Minister to sort this out for the students and the parents there and if necessary to meet those involved.

Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin. Scoileanna Lán-Gaeilge receives almost 40% extra in per capita funding and each school has one additional teaching post in its overall allocation. An additional allowance of €3,068 is also paid to teachers who teach through Irish in Gaeltacht schools.

Providing textbooks and teaching materials in Irish is a core function of An Comhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta. Funding for an comhairle for this purpose has been increased significantly and further expansion of its services is in train.

A co-ordinating committee has also recently been established which represents an comhairle, Foras na Gaeilge and Udarás na Gaeltachta and which reports jointly to the Departments of Education and Science and Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. This committee works co-operatively in developing plans to extend the range of teaching and learning materials for Gaeltacht and all-Irish schools.

The Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs also funds a scéim na gcúntóirí teanga to strengthen Irish as a spoken language among young people in the Gaeltacht and to guide the linguistic behaviour of school children towards the use of Irish. Under this scheme, fluent Irish speakers are sent to Gaeltacht schools where they assist children who do not have Irish as their first language or who require further help.

A total of 113 Gaeltacht schools, including primary and post-primary schools, benefit from the scheme. It assists children who do not have sufficient Irish to develop their fluency in an enjoyable way through play, games, drama, rhymes and songs. Last summer a separate scheme, scéim na gcampaí samhraidh, provided a course to support second level students attending all-Irish education in the Gaeltacht.

Pobalscoil Corca Dhuibhne is an amalgamation of two existing schools, Meanscoil na Toirbhite and Meanscoil na mBraithre Chríostaí. In 1989 the managements of Meanscoil na Toirbhite and Meanscoil na mBraithre Chríostaí proposed to amalgamate the two schools into a single co-educational voluntary secondary school. In March 1998, the management authorities sought departmental approval to change the status of the proposed school to a community school. Approval was given in early 1999 for the change of status following consultations between trustees, boards of management, staff and parents of the two schools and the school was to be a community school under County Kerry VEC.

Both schools which amalgamated to form the new community school were classified as Scoileanna Lán-Gaeilge. Pobalscoil Corca Dhuibnne has the same classification as a scoil lán-Gaeilge. In the context of the amalgamation, the issue of the language of tuition of a number of pupils arises from the reaffirmation, by the board of management of Pobalscoil Corca Dhuibhne, of the characteristic spirit of the new school as an all-Irish Gaeltacht school in which the language of tuition is exclusively Irish. No party to the discussions of the amalgamation raised this issue with the Department of Education and Science.

The Department first became aware of this as an issue of concern for some students and parents when a parent contacted it in July. In August, the Department wrote to the board of management of the new community school requesting that it bring forward proposals to ensure that students could complete their post-primary education without substantially altering the conditions of tuition under which they had hitherto been enrolled. Since the school reopened in September, the Department has received representations from several parents concerned about the situation. Some parents have made representations in support of the board of management's position.

In September, the Department wrote to the trustees of the school requesting their direct involvement with the board of management in developing definitive proposals as to how students who have been taught, at least partially, through English can continue to receive instruction in a way that does not substantially disadvantage them. It was pointed out that such proposals would need to involve a commitment that those students already enrolled should be facilitated in completing their post-primary education in the manner in which they have been taught to date.

These students could be strongly encouraged to engage with the Irish language supports already outlined by the board but, as students already enrolled in the school, they have a legitimate expectation that they will continue to be taught in the manner in which they have been to date. I urge all parties to work together in a constructive manner to find a solution to this issue. My Department has been in regular contact with the trustees and at a senior level is involved in active dialogue with them in seeking a resolution to the current impasse.

Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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I wish to ask a short supplementary question.

John Cregan (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy has no facility to ask a supplementary question.

Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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The question was what direction has the Minister given.

John Cregan (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy is out of order.

Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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Nothing in this response answers my question.

John Cregan (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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I must call the next item.

Tom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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What about the students with special needs, with dyslexia, who have been taught through English? How will they be taught in Pobalscoil Corca Dhuibhne?

John Cregan (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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I have to call the next item.