Written answers

Thursday, 15 May 2014

Department of Education and Skills

Gaelscoileanna Issues

Photo of John O'MahonyJohn O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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83. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the provisions that are in place in County Sligo for gaelscoileanna; and if he will consider increasing funding to allow for the provision of Irish language schooling for families in County Sligo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21881/14]

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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There is currently one Gaelscoil in County Sligo. Enrolments in the school are relatively stable. This is reflective of the overall demographic situation in County Sligo where enrolments are expected to remain stable up until 2019 at least.

As the Deputy will be aware, the over-riding objective of Education capital expenditure is to meet the demographic challenge facing the education system, whereby total pupil enrolment in both primary and post-primary schools is expected to grow by around 107,000 additional pupils between 2012 and 2019 - over 70,000 at primary level and over 35,000 at post primary - and will continue to rise at post primary level to the year 2026, at least. A priority, therefore, for my Department is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking places. In areas of stable demographics, my Department is not in a position to develop one school sector where this may negatively impact on schools in other sectors.

However to assess further the pupil enrolment trends in the Sligo area, my Department will be contacting the school authorities of the 13 primary schools in the Sligo feeder area in relation to pupil enrolment data including information on school pre-enrolments for the 2014/2015 academic year. This data, when obtained and reviewed, will also assist my Department in further assessing the issue of overall demand for education through the medium of Irish in the area.

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