Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)
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I thank the Minister for taking this Topical Issues matter. Last year I was contacted by a school in my constituency in the Gaeltacht of An Rinn, Scoil Náisiúnta na Rinne. The principal, Aodh Mac Craith, outlined to me that he had difficulty filling a vacancy in the school. Given that permanent teaching jobs in good schools are hard to come by and the numbers on the teaching panel, one would think there would be no difficulty in filling the position, especially in a place as lovely as County Waterford. The principal told me teachers were contacting him saying they were afraid of getting the job because their Irish was not good enough to teach in a Gaeltacht school.

It is nonsense to expect teachers who are not comfortable teaching entirely through Irish to be engaged in such circumstances, particularly to children who were born into families where Irish is their first language in Gaeltacht communities. Scoil Náisiúnta na Rinne teaches such children, may of whom are more comfortable speaking Irish than English. The principal said he had received at least 16 e-mails from worried teachers. These candidates said they would love the job but did not have the level of Irish required. This was a major dilemma for the school and for those on the panel who feared they would lose their teaching rights if they refused a job which they felt unable to do. It was a catch-22 for everybody.

The school principal brought the case to local politicians and on to the Department of Education and Skills. When it was first highlighted with me there was not even a box that candidates could tick on their panel forms to indicate whether or not they could speak Irish. Through interventions from the school in Rinn and others such a box has been added, however there is no provision for candidates to indicate whether they are sásta to carry out their duties in Irish. Being willing to teach in Irish does not always mean a person would be good at it. The Gaelscoileanna, like all schools, deserve the best teachers who can teach to the best of their abilities. Would the Minister be happy for an English-speaking school to endure teachers whose first language was not English and who were not proficient in it?

We have a duty to ensure, particularly in Gaeltacht areas, that children have teachers who have the ability to teach in the language of the school and are comfortable doing so.

The case of Scoil Náisiúnta na Rinne was brought to An Coimisinéir Teanga last year and he agreed with its case and even highlighted it in his retirement speech last year, stating it was a classic example of the language being undermined. Yesterday, there was a similar example with a Gaelscoil in Sligo, which had to turn away an entire class of 30 pupils because of a teacher issue. This is not fair to schools or teachers and it does not show respect to our Irish language. The panel must make allowances for teachers with the best Irish and not just those who are willing to teach in Irish.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I thank Deputy Conway for giving me the opportunity to outline to the House the position of the redeployment process. At the outset I should clarify that teacher qualifications, including those relating to Irish, are designed to equip teachers to teach in all publicly funded schools. The criteria used for the allocation of teachers to primary schools, including redeployment arrangements, are published annually. The staffing and redeployment arrangements for the 2014 and 2015 school year are available on the Department website.

Teaching vacancies are filled in the first instance through the redeployment of surplus permanent teachers. Thereafter, schools are required under the panel arrangements to fill permanent vacancies from supplementary panels comprised of eligible fixed-term temporary or substitute and part-time teachers. Redeployment panels are drawn up on a diocesan basis for Catholic panels, diocesan and united diocesan basis for Church of Ireland panels and on a national basis for other patron bodies. The Department reviews the redeployment process with the education partners each year to ensure the process is operating effectively. One of the outcomes of the review of the 2013 redeployment arrangements was that the redeployment process for the 2014 to 2015 school year would, on a pilot basis, give an opportunity to teachers being placed on main panels and supplementary panels to indicate if they were particularly interested in being redeployed to a school that operates through the medium of Irish. This pilot approach will be reviewed in the autumn of 2014. The purpose of this is to assist the school-led redeployment process for schools that operate through the medium of Irish.

When the redeployment panels are published, a period is given for schools with vacancies to fill their teaching posts from the list of teachers on the relevant panel. During this period there are informal and formal contacts between schools and teachers on the panels. This pilot scheme will make it easier for Gaelscoileanna and schools in the Gaeltacht to identify and contact those teachers who are particularly interested in being redeployed to a school that operates through the medium of Irish. The redeployment arrangements include provision for a panel officer to be appointed in the event that all the teachers on a panel have not been redeployed during the school-led redeployment process. The redeployment of all surplus teachers is key to the Department's ability to manage within its payroll budget and employment control framework on teacher numbers. Given our budgetary position, we need to have sufficient flexibility in the redeployment arrangements to ensure surplus teachers in all schools, regardless of patronage type, can be readily redeployed to vacancies wherever they exist.

The panel officer process commences with the school of the same patronage that is located nearest the school with the surplus teacher. The panel officer engages with the panel operator and with the school in his or her decision-making process. As part of this process the school is given an opportunity to provide any relevant information to the panel officer. This will now include information on whether a teacher on the panel has ticked the box expressing a particular interest in being redeployed to a school that operates through the medium of Irish. The panel officer, having considered the matter, will determine if the surplus teacher should be redeployed to the nearest school. The panel officer has discretion on this matter so as to facilitate, as best as possible, an appropriate match of a surplus teacher to a school. If the panel officer determines there are valid reasons for not redeploying the teacher to the nearest school, the above process commences with the next nearest school etc. until the panel officer has identified the school for the redeployment of the teacher.

It is important to note that the panel redeployment arrangements apply in the same manner for all schools, including those that operate through the medium of Irish. Specifically, all teachers on a redeployment panel may receive offers of appointment from Irish medium schools, irrespective of whether they have ticked the box to indicate a particular interest in same.

Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)
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I thank the Minister, although I am a little unclear about his answer. He indicated the Department has a pilot scheme in place which will be reviewed in the autumn of 2014 but continued that if the process does not really suit, a teacher may have to be redeployed to a certain area anyway. How has the process worked and is there any indication of it working efficiently? I have just highlighted two cases, including the example at An Rinn outside Dungarvan in Waterford and the Sligo example, where a school could not fill a vacancy.

As our teachers go through the same qualification process, one would hope they could be comfortable in having the ability to teach through Irish. That is not the case. It is important to natives of a Gaeltacht area like An Rinn and An Seanphobal in Waterford that they have the right to be educated through the medium of Irish by people who are proficient, professional and comfortable doing so.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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That is the intention and it is the policy of the Department to be able to provide teachers who are comfortable teaching through the medium of Irish, even at a Gaeltacht school with native Irish speakers. The issue arises with regard to cost constraints imposed on us and the employment control framework. If a school loses a teacher because enrolment numbers drop, the teacher would go to a redeployment panel while the salary is guaranteed. The teacher must be redeployed into the classroom to ensure we get value for money and the contract is maintained.

The new process is happening this year for the first time and I suspect last year's experience may have informed this approach. It has been suggested that the process would be reviewed in due course. Rather than having teachers such as those described in the Deputy's opening remarks, who indicate privately to a school principal that although they are on a redeployment panel they would not be up to teaching suitably as Ghaeilge in a Gaeltacht school, we should try to avoid such occurrences by having a box to tick which indicates that a teacher would be comfortable teaching through the medium of Irish.

In theory the requirement is that applicants for initial teacher education must have done honours Irish in the leaving certificate but there are emerging difficulties in that regard. I will listen to people from An Foras Pátrúnachta and others in seeking to address this problem.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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The next topic has been raised by Deputy Clare Daly and I understand the relevant Minister is unable to attend. Has an alternative date been agreed?

Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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Yes, we have agreed that on Wednesday, 28 May the Minister will be available for the debate.

Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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It will be the first issue in the slot.