Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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231. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to set up an Irish language immersion pilot scheme to teach designated subjects though Irish in primary schools as outlined in the 20 year strategy for the Irish language; the timeframe to implement such a pilot scheme; and if he has given consideration to a pilot (details supplied) of language immersion in County Cork. [49335/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The 20-Year Strategy for Irish emphasises the implementation of partial immersion in all primary schools.  The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment was asked to advise on partial immersion or Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) as part of its work on the development of a language curriculum at primary level.

A new integrated Primary Language Curriculum for junior infants to second class, incorporating both Irish and English, was introduced from September 2016. This curriculum supports children’s language learning in our two languages, Irish and English, through high-quality experiences. The curriculum aims to ensure that children acquire transferrable language skills which will assist them in learning both Irish and English during their primary education and in additional languages when they choose them at second level. Work is currently underway in developing the Primary Language Curriculum for third to sixth class which will be available to schools in autumn 2018.

My Department's current focus is on national delivery of the Primary Language Curriculum. A comprehensive continuing professional development programme is in place to support the implementation of the new Primary Language Curriculum. Teachers, as part of this professional development, receive advice on the use of different approaches to teach Irish and to use Irish as the medium of instruction across other aspects of the curriculum. This is the CLIL approach.

The Department's Policy on Gaeltacht Education 2017-2022 also supports immersion education and the use of Irish as the language of communication and instruction to assist with the language acquisition of learners of Irish and the language enrichment of native speakers.  In April 2017 the Department issued an invitation to all primary and post-primary schools in Gaeltacht language planning areas to participate in the Gaeltacht School Recognition Scheme. Schools participating in the Scheme are eligible to access extra supports and resources on the implementation of specified language criteria, including total immersion education through Irish on a phased basis.