Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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11. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her views on the importance of promoting the provision of Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [59372/25]

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Baineann an cheist atá agam leis an nGaeloideachas or the importance of education trí mheán na Gaeilge. This question relates to the provision and staffing of Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Ward as a cheist agus as a chuid suime sa Ghaeilge agus san oideachas lán-Ghaeilge. Tuigim an ról lárnach atá ag an gcóras oideachais chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn, agus an stádas ar leith atá ag an oideachas lán-Ghaeilge maidir le caomhnú agus neartú na teanga. I thank Deputy Ward for his question, and for his interest in the Irish language and Irish-medium education. I understand the central role the education system plays in the promotion of the Irish language and the special status of Irish-medium education in the preservation and strengthening of the language.

We have committed in the programme for Government to expand opportunities for pupils and students to attend Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí, to establish new Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí where there is demand and to support parents choosing Irish-medium education for their children. Today, we have just published a survey specifically looking at primary schools. It was really important that one of the questions in it was whether parents wanted their child or children to be taught through the medium of Irish or English. Also important in the survey is that it is school-specific. While there might be a view that we could have made it more open-ended, making sure that it is school-specific means it can be implemented at the end of the day. If there is a very clear demand within a community for a particular school to change, it makes it easier for that community to engage with the patron to engage with the patron to bring about change.

I intend to publish a new policy for Irish-medium education outside the Gaeltacht on Thursday morning. In order to inform the development of the overall policy, a comprehensive public consultation process was conducted. Officials in my Department have drawn on the insights gained from this overall consultation process and from research undertaken in developing the new policy. Importantly, the new Gaeltacht policy, which was introduced a number of years ago, has been hugely successful. That was developed using the same approach that has been taken for the two new strategies, including where Irish is taught in English-medium schools and in Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí. The information from the consultation is being considered in light of extensive provision for Irish-medium education, the estimated demand in the education system, as well as issues relating to teacher supply and the Department’s budgetary and legislative context.

A task force on models of provision for Irish-medium education is also being established as a key action under the policy. I will give an outline of that in my supplementary answer.

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I learned about the survey this morning. I welcome it. It is about giving parents the choice they need as to where their children are educated and in what circumstances they are educated. An issue I have raised with the Minister before, specifically in relation to a secondary school in Cherrywood in my constituency, is the way in which plebiscites are conducted and how the Department chooses whether there will be education through the medium of the Irish language. The community that wants Irish-language education is naturally and necessarily going to be more widely spread. The danger is that the metric the Department currently uses only focuses on a narrow geographic area when, in fact, in the case of Cherrywood, with big transport links like the Luas and buses, children can travel to a Gaelcholáiste from households in a much wider geographic area. Will the survey account for that? Will the Minister ensure that parents from a wide area get the opportunity to make that choice as well?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The survey will be based on a parent or guardian's preference. If the child is already in a school, it will relate to the current school. If the child is not in a school, it will relate to the parent or guardian's preferred choice. That is the approach that was designed to make sure the outcome can be implementable, which will be important when we get the information. We are seeing where changes and transitions are working well. The Edmund Rice Schools Trust, ERST, and the transition of its Synge Street CBS to a co-educational Gaelcholáiste from September 2026 is an example. While there might have been some teething problems, we are working very closely with the school, the teachers and the patron in particular to make sure this transition can happen.

In terms of the task force, we have not set a target because we need to understand what the demand is and, most important, how we can introduce a greater number of Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí through engaging with people. It is really important that the strategies have been worked on with the engagement of Foras na Gaeilge, an Foras Pátrúnachta, Gaeloideachas agus Conradh na Gaeilge. I met with these organisations as a group recently to make sure that all of the issues the Deputy has raised and the concerns the organisations have about being able to roll out more school provision, as well as about how Irish is being taught in our schools and bringing back the grá for it and people's ability to converse in it, are front and centre of the strategies that will be published later on this week.

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I look forward to the publication of the strategy and I appreciate the work the Minister is doing. The reality currently is that every child who leaves a Gaelscoil to go to a Gaelcholáiste does not have that choice. There are not enough Gaelcholáistí to accommodate the population coming out of Gaelscoileanna. Children who have been through the primary process as Gaeilge do not have the option to continue their education to university level as Gaeilge. Is the Minister satisfied that the resources are available? We hear that the teachers are not there, but that is something that can be addressed. Will the Minister put in place real incentives, whether that is grants for university education through Irish or tax incentives for teachers teaching trí mheán na Gaeilge or in Gaelcholáistí or Gaelscoileanna for that matter?

Can we please drive this so that, at the very minimum, every child who is graduating from a Gaelscoil into secondary school has the opportunity and chance to go to a Gaelcholáiste within a reasonably proximate area so they can continue that Gaeloideachas all the way through to university.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My objective is to ensure that the option is available for students. In certain areas, it is just not available to them at the moment. I accept that. The task force that is due to be established under the policy is looking to explore issues relating to the various models of Irish-medium education provision. That does not just mean the development of new schools. We have other areas and ways in which the Irish language is being provided. How do we look at best practice where it has worked well? We may need to develop and reconceptualise the current models of provision, if necessary, with a view to identifying ways to increase the provision of Irish-medium education.

The short answer is "Yes". We want to make sure that the strategy and the work of the task force identify ways in which we can provide options for students, whether through new schools or the reconfiguration of schools, through an aonad, how they have worked, how we can develop that and how can we make them work better in certain areas. However, I think we need to ensure that we have a focused strategy and plan in place with the support of everybody involved. I was pleased to find at recent meetings with the various different bodies that everybody is keen to get working and focus on how we can supply more and better provision for students.