Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

Iarraim ar an tSeanadóir mo leithscéal a ghabháil toisc nach bhfuil Gaeilge líofa agam. B'fhearr liom leanúint i mBéarla, lena thoil.

This House is aware that, in the context of budget 2012 and the need for the State to achieve economic independence in the coming years, difficult choices had to be made to achieve savings. To this end, in 2011 all Departments carried out a comprehensive review of expenditure on all budgets and programmes, and proposals to achieve savings were put to Government. As one of the largest spending Departments, this was also the case in regard to expenditure on education.

In making these difficult decisions, priority was given to protecting resources for front line services as far as possible in the coming years. For example, the general average of 28:1 for the allocation of classroom teachers at primary level has been maintained and the overall number of special needs assistants and resource teachers will be maintained at current levels.

However, savings had to be made, even against a background of the expected increase in the school going population in the coming years. One such decision was the abolition, for new students, of the grant currently paid for student teachers' three week placement in Gaeltacht summer colleges. Currently, satisfactory attendance at an Irish language course in the Gaeltacht is a compulsory element of the primary initial teacher education, ITE, courses.

In respect of students in the State-funded colleges of education, the Department pays a grant of €637 per student directly to the Gaeltacht summer colleges per three week course. This is an annual cost of over €700,000, representing moneys that would have to be found elsewhere within the education budget. The removal of the grant means students will be liable for the cost.

We would all prefer if this choice did not have to be made. It has to be viewed in the context of the prevailing requirement to reduce costs and achieve efficiencies where possible. This move brings the primary ITE courses more into line with a number of other types of degree programmes, such as language degrees, where students are required to bear the costs of additional special requirements themselves. For example, there are modern languages degrees where a stay in a foreign country might be required.

Senator Ó Clochartaigh might wish to note ITE courses are being reconfigured in line with the recommendations of the Department's literacy and numeracy strategy and the Teaching Council's policy on teacher education, and the need to ensure that all primary teachers are competent and confident in their use of the Irish language, especially given its importance in the primary school curriculum. To this end, we are looking at raising the bar in regard to the Irish leaving certificate entry requirement for teacher education, but the quality of engagement during the Gaeltacht placement also needs to be of a high standard and be more focused on the outcomes required for our teachers.