Déirdre de Búrca (Green Party)

I call for the Minister for Education and Science to come to the House to hear the concerns I and other Members have with regard to the policy she proposes to introduce for gaelscoileanna, namely, two and a half hours of obligatory instruction through English. I was at a meeting last night in Greystones, where a new gaelscoil is proposed. Many of the parents and those involved in Foras Patrúnachta na Scoileanna Lán-Ghaeilge have expressed their concerns that this will undermine their policy of total immersion, which applies in the early years of gaelscoil education. The Minister should come to the House and listen to the concerns being expressed. The argument being made by the gaelscoileanna is, that at the least, the Minister should base her decision on research into the effectiveness of total immersion education.