Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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133. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of restoring the grant for student teachers' attendance at Gaeltacht courses; if she has carried out an assessment of the impact of this cut on the cost of teacher training to students; her vews on reinstating the grant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3354/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Teaching Council is the statutory body that reviews and accredits programmes of initial teacher education. The Gaeltacht placement is a mandatory component of primary initial teacher education programmes and is governed by the Council's accreditation criteria, published in June 2011 (Initial Teacher Education: Criteria and Guidelines for Programme Providers) and which must be adhered to by all providers of primary initial teacher education providers.

I acknowledge that the funding of the Gaeltacht Placement is a significant cost to students and their families. However, there is special provision in place for students who experience hardship in meeting this cost. The decision to abolish the Gaeltacht Placement grants, from September 2012, 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.

The cost of restoring the grant for the 4 week placement would be circa €1m per annum. I am not in a position to reinstate the funding to this area.