Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State and I am grateful for the opportunity to raise the matter of Gaelscoil Chnoc na Ré, Ballydoogan, Sligo. I should be able to debate the matter in Irish but I cannot and that may be part of the reason this motion should be listened to and acted upon by the Government. It relates to a decision taken by the Department of Education and Skills whereby this school will lose two permanent teachers at the end of the month and the principal will return to the classroom. Staffing at the school will be reduced from seven classroom teachers and an administrative principal to six teachers, including the principal. As a result, class sizes and the number of mixed classes will increase, despite the number of pupils in the school increasing from 166 to 177 in the past year. The school has been in existence since 1996 and is in temporary accommodation. A health and safety study in 2009 found the school's accommodation to be inadequate despite the high level of educational standards maintained by the teaching staff. The school had a large catchment area as there is no gaelscoil from south Donegal to south Leitrim. A great number of people are serviced by the institution and its growth from an initial 22 students in its founding year has been consistent over the years.

The decision taken by the Department, towards the end of the last Administration, means that the school is to lose two teachers. The favourable pupil-teacher ratio in small and developing gaelscoileanna was to be abandoned with effect from September. Reasonable and proven educational and linguistic reasons support this favourable ratio and we should examine the matter again. The amount of money is small in the greater scheme of things and there are a small number of gaelscoileanna. The Minister has resource issues in the context of scarcity and our changed economic environment but that is the challenge of government, to redeploy resources where they can have the maximum impact. Education is clearly one of those cases.

Next month, €700 million will be paid on unsecured bonds, presumably to one of the great European banks, and a further €1.2 billion will be paid at the beginning of next year. I realise there is a European angle to this but it is incumbent on the Government to look for a reduction on some of the bond terms. That would give adequate resources to deal with smaller issues like the gaelscoileanna, which will have such an impact on the community in Sligo.

An appeal is possible and will be lodged this week. I hope that common sense will prevail rather than a literal interpretation of the rules. This is an independent appeals board but I asked the Minister to provide additional terms of reference to the independent appeals board to use common sense when considering the grounds put forward by gaelscoileanna such as Gaelscoil Chnoc na Ré, when they lose out marginally on the basis of the criteria. It is a double blow in the context of increased number of students. The school will lose not one teacher but two, including the administrative principal.

If it was up to the Minister of State, this would be done as a personal favour to me but I know that central government cannot operate like this. A small number of gaelscoileanna are affected in this way. Immersion education requires to be treated differently, where additional effort and resources are required to deal with an entire curriculum through the medium of Irish. That contributes to the renewal of our language, to which all parties are committed. I hope the Minister of State can be helpful.