Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I apologise for my late arrival and thank the Minister for attending to take the Adjournment matter I have tabled. Dublin's growing multiculturalism has brought with it many new challenges for the school system. Today many schools have students on their books for whom English is not the mother tongue. For those children to reach their potential in the education system, they need extra help with written and spoken English.

The current Department of Education and Science regulations are very unfair when it comes to awarding extra resources to schools with non-national pupils. Under that system, primary and secondary schools with more than 14 non-English speaking pupils are awarded a temporary teacher to assist them with their language. Schools with 28 or more non-English speaking students are sanctioned two temporary teachers.

Those regulations take no account of the fact that many schools have significantly more than 28 pupils from non-English speaking backgrounds. I will deal specifically with a case in my area with which I am aware the Minister is familiar because she has made complimentary remarks about the work of the school. I refer to St. Mark's senior and junior schools in Springfield. There are 200 international students in the junior school. In the senior school there are 140 students from an international background. Of the total school population, 35% is made up of international students. This is an acute issue that must be resolved in terms of additional support.

The Minister stated previously that only in exceptional cases will she allocate a third language support teacher to any given school but that is unfair to those schools with a substantial international student population base. It is unfair and unreasonable to give the same level of support to a school with 28 international children as a school with 128 such children.

Our schools need a new system of allocation for language support teachers that takes account of the total number of non-English speaking students enrolled, their needs and the needs of the school as a whole. A graduated system should be introduced where schools with more students from an international background are given more resources to assist those children. Language support teachers play a vital role in our education system. For children who have poor written or spoken English, the support of a language teacher can help them fast-track their knowledge of English and ensure they make the most of their education experience in this country.

I ask the Minister to examine this issue again. When I raised it before the Christmas break, the view of her Department was that it was examining this issue. I believe the Minister recognises that there are some hard cases in terms of the total number of international students in those particular schools. I would be grateful if the Minster could clarify her thinking on this issue with a view to making progress from this point.