Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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205. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to fund B. Ed students to attend mandatory Gaeltacht courses similar to the way this was done up to 2012; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39702/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Under the Teaching Council Act, 2001, the Teaching Council is the body with statutory regulatory authority to review and accredit initial teacher education programmes. As such it is the Council, not the Minister, that sets out the programme criteria. Changes to the structure and content of the Gaeltacht Placement arose from the Teaching Council's new accreditation criteria, published in June 2011 (Initial Teacher Education: Criteria and Guidelines for Programme Providers) which provide, inter alia, for "an extended and reconceptualised Gaeltacht residency which will now form part of the overall programme and be under the direct jurisdiction of the teacher education providers."

The Teaching Council established a Gaeltacht Placement Working Group and published a report in May 2012 which, among other things, provides for the placement duration to be extended to take place in two blocks of two weeks and a common course content across all initial teacher education providers. Initial teacher education providers have responsibility for quality assuring the content, teaching and assessment of the Gaeltacht element of initial teacher education programmes. Any concerns in this regard should be taken up directly with the provider in the first instance and/or the Council. My Department supports the changes as contributing to overall quality improvement in initial teacher education.

The decision to abolish the Gaeltacht Placement grants, from September 2012 was not taken lightly, and has to be viewed in the context of the prevailing requirement to reduce costs and achieve efficiencies where possible. Priority was given to protecting resources for front line education services as far as possible in the coming years, which is especially challenging with rising numbers of school-going children.

To assist with the costs of the Gaeltacht placement, students who are in receipt of a student grant which includes a 100% fee grant, or who would have qualified for a full fee grant but for the Free Fees Schemes, can apply for funding towards travel and accommodation costs under the field trip element of a fee grant, subject to the normal terms and conditions of the scheme.

Apart from the student grant system, in circumstances of particular need students may apply for support under the Student Assistance Fund. Information in relation to this fund is available through the Access Officer in the third level institution attended.

For the reasons outlined above, I am not in a position to reinstate funding to this area.