Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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84. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his views on a matter in relation to a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10032/19]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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Since the establishment of An tAonad um Oideachas Gaeltachta within the Department of Education and Skills, significant progress has been made in relation to the implementation of the Policy on Gaeltacht Education 2017-2022, including the development and implementation of the Gaeltacht School Recognition Scheme in primary and post-primary schools in the Gaeltacht. Prior to the launch of the Scheme, and since its commencement, regular consultation in relation to the operation of the Scheme has taken place with a wide range of relevant stakeholders, including the members of the Advisory Group for the Policy on Gaeltacht Education.

The overall objective of the Policy on Gaeltacht Education is to promote the use of Irish as the main language of Gaeltacht communities through the delivery of high quality education through the medium of Irish and by extending the use of Irish in school communities. The objective of the Scheme is to allow participating schools, following consultation with their local communities, to seek to achieve Gaeltacht School Recognition over a 5 year period on the basis of the implementation of specific language-based criteria, including the implementation of a total-immersion approach. Currently there are 105 primary schools and 28 post-primary schools participating in the Scheme. A report, summarising the views of schools about the implementation of the Scheme, as reported to inspectors during advisory visits to the schools, was published in December 2018. The report indicates that the experience of Gaeltacht schools implementing the Scheme has been largely positive.

The additional language support hours allocated to schools participating in the Scheme are based on the enrolment figures recorded in the previous year, which is in line with Department norms. In recognition of the difficulties which some small isolated Gaeltacht schools face in relation to the recruitment of part-time teachers, for the 2018/19 school year, schools participating in the Scheme were given the option to combine their additional language support hours with other primary schools in the locality to form clusters, which would allow for the creation of a temporary full-time teaching post shared by the primary schools in the particular cluster. For the 2019-20 school year, the further option of combining additional Irish-language support hours and/or special education teaching hours to form full-time temporary teaching posts which may be shared by primary schools in a particular cluster has been provided. The primary school concerned has been given these options.

In relation to general staffing levels, the current staffing schedule in primary schools operates at a general average of 1 teacher for every 26 pupils which is the most favourable position ever seen at primary level. Any additional improvement will be considered as part of the next annual budgetary process alongside the many other demands from the education sector.

The general staffing allocation arrangements for 2019/20 are now available on my Department’s website. As has been the norm for the past number of years, these staffing arrangements allow for more favourable retention rates in Gaeltacht schools than in other schools.