Evanne Ní Chuilinn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I am grateful that he will go back with the five questions because they are key to moving this issue forward. There is not a whole lot of detail in the statement, as we can see. The Minister of State said the first phase of the transition will involve first year intake only, so I wonder when the details of the second phase will be announced. Those children will keep going in the school and not just stop going to school after first year. They need a plan for six years. The Minister of State also said that professional learning opportunities have been outlined for the staff there. If staff are not fluent in Irish in a teaching capacity, it is going to be very difficult to transition over and suddenly start teaching through Irish, so I would like more detail on what the professional learning opportunities are going to be. I would be very surprised if teachers not fluent in Irish would be in a position to become fluent. Teachers do need to be fluent to teach through Irish.

The only other thing I would like to add and put on the record is a request for a meeting with the Gaelcholáiste group. It has made a couple of requests to the Department but has not received an answer. It would be beneficial to the Department to get feedback from the parents and the people involved in the group. At the end of the day, they are experts in the Irish language and in teaching through Irish, so it would be useful for planning the school and establishing some sort of a board or planning policy for the new school.