Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 40:

In page 26, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following:“(9) (a) Notwithstanding subsection (7)(e)(iii), and subject to this subsection, an Irish medium school may prioritise the admission of a student where the school is satisfied that the student speaks Irish as a home language.

(b) An applicant may, when making an application for admission to an Irish medium school, include a statement that the student in respect of whom the application concerned relates speaks Irish as a home language.

(c) When making an application to an Irish medium school in accordance with paragraph (b), the applicant shall furnish such evidence as he or she considers appropriate in support of the statement that the student speaks Irish as a home language, which may include confirmation that the student and a parent or guardian, is available to attend a meeting in order to further support the statement that the student speaks Irish as a home language.

(d) If a school is not satisfied that the evidence furnished in accordance with paragraph (c) is conclusive the school may turn down the application for priority admission or seek further evidence from the applicant.

(e) If the school is not satisfied that the further evidence furnished in accordance with paragraph (d) is conclusive the school may turn down the application for priority admission.

(f) A post-primary Irish medium school may satisfy itself that a student is a speaker of Irish as a home language on the basis of a signed statement from the principal or vice-principal of an Irish medium primary school confirming that the applicant had previously been deemed, in accordance with paragraph (a), to be a speaker of Irish as a home language.

(g) In satisfying itself that a student speaks Irish as a home language, a school shall take into account only the evidence that the applicant has provided in accordance with paragraphs (b), (c) or (d) and the evidence from any meeting as provided for at paragraph (c).

(h) An Irish medium school may not rank in order of preference, for the purposes of admission to the school concerned, a student who has satisfied the school in accordance with paragraph (a) relative to other students who have satisfied the school in accordance with said paragraph, by virtue of the students’ relative fluency in the Irish language.

(i) Nothing in paragraph (h) shall preclude an Irish medium school from applying the selection criteria set out in the school’s admission policy to students who have satisfied the school in accordance with paragraph (a), where the number of such students is greater than the number of places available.

(j) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as permitting an Irish medium school to require a student attend an interview or other meeting to assess his or her level of fluency in the Irish language.

(k) In this subsection—

‘a student who speaks Irish as a home language’, means a student whose normal language of communication with one or more parents or guardians is Irish and who displays the minimum level of fluency in Irish that would be expected where at least one or more parents or guardians have used Irish as the normal language of communication with the student from birth, taking into account any special educational needs of the student concerned;

‘Irish medium school’ means a school that provides education predominantly through the medium of Irish.”.

I will be withdrawing this amendment, but I would like to ask the Minister a few questions first, if that is in order.