Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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226. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department carried out a study on the establishment of a support centre within his Department to enable the transition of English medium schools to Irish medium schools; if he will provide the results of such a study; if there is an established protocol within his Department for such a procedure; if he will make these guidelines available if such a protocol exists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39241/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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My Department has no proposals to carry out a study in relation to the establishment of a support centre for Irish language medium education at this time. However, the Deputy may be aware that, in the context of the Schools Reconfiguration for Diversity process which I announced in January this year, my Department is working to provide more multi-denominational and non-denominational schools across the country, in line with the choices of families and school communities. In devising this roadmap to accelerate the transfer of patronage in order to increase the number of non-denominational and multi-denominational schools, I propose to concentrate on the reconfiguration of existing school provision. The new plans are designed to provide additional multidenominational schools in either of the nation’s languages, Irish or English and I envisage that the possibility of some English medium schools seeking to make a transition to Irish medium may occur in that context. My Department is currently working with the relevant education partners in drawing up protocols to govern the identification and implementation phases of the process. Once these have been completed, further development of procedures such as those mentioned by the Deputy will be undertaken to support the process.