Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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142. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the policies that her Department is pursuing to ensure that Irish-medium education is not discriminated by a first past the post system of school patronage bidding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8632/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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As part of the 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030, my Department has committed to creating opportunities for expanding Irish-medium education outside the Gaeltacht in the context of the announcements since April 2018 on the establishment of 47 new schools from 2019, which affords particular consideration to the establishment of Gaelscoileanna, Gaelcholáistí, and Aonaid Lán-Ghaeilge as part of the patronage process for new schools.  

A patronage process is run after it has been decided, based on demographic analysis, that a new school is required.  The New Schools Establishment Group (NSEG) is an external independent advisory group which was set up in 2011 to advise the Minister on the patronage of new schools.

The patronage process is open to all patron bodies and prospective patrons. An Online Patronage Process System (OPPS) provides objective information to parents in the relevant school planning areas to assist them in making an informed choice about their preferred model of patronage and language of instruction, i.e. Irish or English,  for a new school.  

Parental preferences from parents of children who reside in the relevant school planning areas, together with other considerations such as the extent of diversity of provision currently available in these areas (including Irish-medium provision), are key to decisions in relation to the outcome of the process and to whether a school would take the form of an Irish-medium Gaelscoil/Gaelcholáiste or whether, if English-medium, the post-primary school would include an Irish-medium unit or “Aonad”. Most new post-primary schools must have a student enrolment capacity of 600 – 1,000 students.  A lower threshold of 400 students may apply to Gaelcoláistí, having regard to the alternative of establishing an Aonad within a school.

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 the education section of the gov.ie website.