Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Imagine if there was a cost free solution with proven track records in regard to academic performance which would make it easier to learn a third or fourth language, would create a greater understanding of and openness to different cultures and languages around the world, would make it easier to score higher in English or mathematics and would improve the cogitative ability of students. There is such a process which is called bilingual education. Internationally, it is proved to show massive benefits for people and children as they go through the education system.

Currently, there are 139 Gaelscoileanna in this State which 30,000 children attend. Since this Government came to power two and a half years ago, it has not set up a single Gaelscoil. No Government in this State has ever set up a Gaelscoil. Without the activism of parents, there would not be a Gaelscoil sector in this State. Currently, 5% achieve a Gaelscolaíocht while the demand for same is 25%. Almost every Gaelscoil in the country has excess demand which cannot be said of any other sector.

In the past four years, four Gaelscoileanna have been built. As I said, no Government has ever created a Gaelscoil; parents create them. They are usually housed in very bad environments, in prefabs or in temporary accommodation for 15 to 20 years before the Government provides a solution. There are plenty of examples of this.

In the Sandymount-Ringsend area of Dublin, there was a competition in regard to patronage and despite there being 600 children on a waiting list who were refused access to three Gaelscoileanna in the locality, the competition was won by Educate Together. I am not saying Education Together should not have won the competition; it is not an either-or option. In fact, one could easily have a Gaelscoil Educate Together but that option is not given by the Department in regard to competitions for patronage.

Other areas which have shown excess demand for Gaelscoileanna include Navan, Kells and Oldcastle in my county, Crumlin in south Dublin, Fairview and Clontarf in north Dublin, Kilkenny, New Ross and Clane. In north Cork, there is oversubscription to the four closest Irish medium schools and at least 13 section 29 cases have been taken against one of these schools but there is no new provision planned by the Government.

I have had discussions with English speaking schools. Many of them are struggling to get students and see any Irish language stream as an opportunity to gain extra students and to improve the service they provide to their students. I have contacted the Department of Education and Skills to try to seek support for these Irish language streams but I have been sent from Billy to Jack trying to find anybody who knows anything about such supports for Irish language streams. If one Googles Irish language streams in education, all of the results will be for the North of Ireland. There are no results on the first page will be for the South of Ireland. There is a serious demand for Irish language education and there are serious benefits but the Government is not providing anywhere near enough to meet that demand.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Primary and post-primary education has a pivotal role to play in the preservation and expansion of the Irish language. The promotion of Irish has been an important aim of successive Governments and its place in our education system has been consistently protected. This is reflected in the fact that for the 2012-13 school year, there were 142 Gaelscoileanna in operation. A further three Gaelscoileanna commenced operation during this school year. There are also 104 all-Irish Gaeltacht primary schools and 928 primary schools where, apart from Irish itself, one or more subjects is taught through the medium of Irish.

At post-primary level, there were 45 Gaelchóláistí in operation for the 2012-13 school. Three more Gaelchóláistí are due to open in September 2014 under new arrangements introduced by the Minister, Deputy Quinn. There were also 11 all-Irish Aonads in post-primary schools and there are nine post-primary schools where, apart from Irish itself, one or more subject is taught through the medium of Irish. Two more Irish Aonads are being established in post-primary schools next year.

As the Deputy will be aware, in June 2011, the Minister, Deputy Quinn, announced that 20 new primary and 20 new post-primary schools would be established across a number of locations. The Minister also announced new arrangements for the recognition and determination of patronage of these new primary and post-primary schools. The new arrangements provide a balanced approach to allow for prospective patrons to apply to establish schools. The criteria to be used in deciding on patronage of the new schools place a particular emphasis on parental demand, to which the Deputy referred, that also includes preference for all-Irish school provision.

Since the new arrangements were introduced, parental preference has emerged to support the establishment of three new Gaelscoileanna and these have commenced operation. Furthermore, as part of the patronage determination process for the new post-primary schools, the Department proactively examined all-Irish provision at post-primary level in the areas where the new schools are to be established. It predetermined a requirement for all-Irish provision in three of the areas concerned. These schools will commence operation in 2014. In addition, it is open to new English-medium post-primary schools to establish an all-Irish aonad if there is sufficient parental demand to support such a development.

The Deputy will be aware that the report on the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector, the establishment of which was a key objective in the programme for Government, was published by the Minister in April 2012. As a follow-up to the outcome of the forum, surveys of parental preferences with regard to the patronage of primary schools were conducted by the Department in 43 areas across the country. Sufficient parental demand for a wider choice of school patron emerged in 28 of the 43 areas surveyed. One of these areas demonstrated sufficient demand for an Irish-language national school. Some 35 of the 43 areas surveyed are already served by a Gaelscoil. Discussions are ongoing with the Catholic patrons in the areas concerned to make progress on this matter.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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The truth is that a large proportion of primary teachers in this State's education system do not have fluency in the Irish language. This makes it very difficult for them to pass on fluency to the children they teach. The teaching of Irish in our schools was heavily criticised by school inspectors recently. The point I am trying to make is that while I acknowledge there are Gaelscoileanna, there is a chasm between the demand for such schools and the supply of them. The Government's ability to fill that chasm is extremely poor. It should not be necessary for me to tell a man from County Galway that the language is hanging by a thread. According to a really important research document that was published a number of years ago, the Irish language has 16 years left as a living language. The 20-year strategy is in tatters. The Language Commissioner resigned last week because he is frustrated by the Government's inaction in implementing the law as it applies to the Irish language. He said that when kids leave school, they are met with compulsory English from the State services.

We need to look at what is happening in other countries. The proportion of kids in Wales who receive an all-Welsh education has increased from 18% to 23%. In the 1980s, just 5% of kids in the Basque Country received a Basque-language education, but that figure has now increased to 65%. If the demand for Irish-language education that exists among 25% of this country's parents were met, some 700 schools would change over to Irish-language education straight away. Approximately 150,000 students in the primary sector and 40,000 students in the secondary sector would change over to scoileanna lán-Gaelacha. That would meet the demand. It would be virtually cost-free to educate them in such a manner. The political will to do this is sorely missing, however. Despite its positive rhetoric at times, the Government is unfortunately sitting back and watching the corrosion of the Irish-language sector. It should be proactive in making a major change that would leave a legacy and would guarantee the future of Irish as a spoken language.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the Deputy when he says it is incumbent on all of us to protect this unique part of our heritage: our language, which should remain a living part of Irish society for the foreseeable future and for generations to come. There is a need for a fundamental examination of what we are setting out to do when we educate our children through Irish in this country. Are we happy to produce young people who have an understanding of Irish after 14 years in the education system - I would argue that most of them do not love the language - but also have a feeling that it has somehow been foisted upon them through the compulsory teaching of it across our school system?

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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That is not the experience. The experience is that the demand is not being met.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I would like to expand on the point I am trying to make. If the young people who learn this language from the age of five to the age of 18 were dropped into the relevant parts of County Galway or another Gaeltacht county, the vast majority of them could not hold the most basic conversation with their counterparts who live in the Gaeltacht and speak the language on a daily basis. In such circumstances, a fundamental re-examination of why and how we teach Irish in our schools is needed. I agree with the Deputy that there is significant demand for all-Irish provision. Anecdotal evidence to this effect is emerging from parents in my county. The Deputy mentioned that up to 600 young people are on a waiting list to access a Gaelscoil in his locality. It is important to note that the parents and children presumably went to school elsewhere. The Deputy may be quite correct when he suggests that a strong desire on the part of parents to have their children educated in an all-Irish medium is emerging. They have the right to demand such provision in an English-medium school. If sufficient demand of this kind emerges from within the parent community of any English-medium school in the country, there is no reason that school cannot deliver all of its subjects through the medium of Irish in junior infants, senior infants, first class and second class. That opportunity has always existed in our school system. It remains within our school system.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Schools need support from the Department to be able to take that daunting step.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I agree that it is a daunting step. I would be disappointed if parents were to decide to found such a unit but sufficient support to enable that to happen did not emanate from within my Department. I would certainly work towards addressing that challenge. At this point, that national need does not seem to be emerging from within the general school system. If that need were to emerge, it would be incumbent on the Department to respond to it. I emphasise that if there is sufficient demand from within a school community for a school to make the transition to at least some element of Irish-medium delivery, there is a process to facilitate that. The right of the parent community to take this approach can be exercised if those involved wish to do so.