Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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287. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way in which opportunities will be created for the expansion of Irish-medium education outside the Gaeltacht in the context of the establishment of 42 new schools as part of a new patronage process. [36068/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Government recently announced plans for the establishment of 42 new schools over the next four years (2019 to 2022). A patronage process is run after it has been decided, based on demographic analysis, that a new school is required. This patronage process is open to all patron bodies and prospective patrons, including those offering Irish-medium Gaelscoileanna. Parental preferences for patronage and language of instruction, from parents of children who reside in the school planning areas concerned, together with the extent of diversity currently available in these areas, are key to decisions in relation to the outcome of this process.

The patronage process for new schools is overseen by an external independent advisory group, the New Schools Establishment Group (NSEG). Following their consideration of my Department’s assessment reports, the NSEG submits a report with recommendations to me for consideration and final decision. The assessment reports and the NSEG recommendations for all such patronage processes are made available on my Department's website.

An Online Patronage Process System (OPPS) has been developed by my Department to provide objective information to all parents which will allow them to make an informed choice about their preferred model of patronage for their child’s education. Parental preferences were previously collected based on direct engagement with patron bodies. The Online Patronage Process System (OPPS) opened in June 2018 for the four post-primary schools to be established in 2019 and my Department is currently preparing assessment reports for the NSEG. The Patronage Process for the primary schools to be established in 2019 will commence later this year.

Separately, I have announced the Schools Reconfiguration for Diversity process to help accelerate the delivery of multi-denominational and non-denominational schools towards the Government target of reaching 400 such schools by 2030. The new plans are designed to provide multi- and non-denominational schools by way of patronage transfer of existing schools. An opportunity will be available to English-medium schools seeking to make a transition to Gaelscoil provision in that context, in line with the expressed wishes of parents and the local school community.