Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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231. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason there is no dedicated office within his Department to support, fund and respond to the demand for Irish-medium education; and the reason much needed resources have not been made available to oversubscribed gaelscoileanna; and the reason the North of Ireland's progress in the development of Irish-medium education cannot be replicated here in order that the educational needs of parents, teachers and students are met. [2653/14]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The reason there is no dedicated office within my Department is that provision of funding and support for Irish medium education is a transversal responsibility involving many sections within the Department.

An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta (COGG) a body under the aegis of my Department which was founded under the provisions of Article 31 of the Education Act of 1998. Its role relates to both primary and post-primary education and the three main areas of work are the provision of teaching resources and the provision of support services to Irish Medium Schools and research.

Foras na Gaeilge provides funding to Gaelscoileanna. In 2012 some €431k was provided and in 2013 the funding allocation was €396k. An amount of €204k has been allocated for the first six months of 2014.

I would like to inform the Deputy that Gaelscoileanna has been selected as the lead organisation to promote Irish medium/ immersion education and Irish -medium preschool education on an all-island basis from this July.

My Department is aware of the excellent resources produced in Northern Ireland and COGG is in regular communication with colleagues from Northern Ireland with a view to sharing expertise.

Provision is made within our services to ensure that there are sufficient resources to meet the demand for Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for Irish medium education. The Professional Development Service for Teachers have a clear mandate to respond to teachers needs for CPD and resources as appropriate and the Education Centre Network responds as required to local needs.

The PDST work with their Northern Ireland counterparts (CESI) in the sharing of resources, knowledge and expertise for Irish medium education.

It is also important to note that in the last few years patronage has been awarded to An Foras Pátrunachta Na Scoileanna Lán Ghaeilge in respect of six schools. (two primary schools in 2011, two primary schools in 2012 along with 2 post primary schools).