Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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416. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there are any applications with her Department awaiting approval (details supplied); if so, the stage at which such applications are at; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58161/22]

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 April 2018 announcement on the establishment of new schools, which will afford particular consideration to the establishment of Gaelscoileanna, Gaelcholáistí, and Aonaid Lán-Ghaeilge as part of the new patronage process.

Following the announcements since April 2018, my Department has developed a new Online Patronage Process System (OPPS), which provides objective information and allows parents to express their preferences in relation to the patronage and language of instruction, i.e. Irish or English, of these new schools (with the exception of those schools which have been designated as Irish-medium gaelscoileanna in advance of the OPPS opening for parents). Parental preferences, as well as other considerations such as the extent of diversity of provision in an area (including Irish-medium provision), are key to the decision-making process.

In addition, in September 2019, the Government announced measures to increase access to Irish-medium education as part of the patronage process, including that five new primary schools being established from 2020-2022 are being designated for Irish-medium education. This step is part of a framework which includes:

- Designating the language of a new primary school as Irish in some circumstances;

- Testing (on a pilot basis) the potential to cater for demand for English and Irish medium provision through, for example, delivering two 8-classroom primary schools (one English-medium and one Irish-medium) in a shared building/campus rather than delivering one 16-classroom primary school, subject to factors such as demand and site conditions;

- Exploring the potential to expand existing Irish-medium primary schools to meet unmet demand in an area;

- Providing opportunities for patrons of existing primary schools to change the language of instruction from English to Irish, such as is envisaged as part of the Schools Reconfiguration for Diversity process.

My Department currently has no applications in respect of the establishment of a Bunscoil or Meanscoil in Counties Cavan or Monaghan and at present has no plans for the establishment of same in these areas.

Details of schools that provide education through the medium of Irish are available on my Department's website www.education.ie.

The following schools provide education through the medium of Irish in Counties Cavan/Monaghan:

19469K NAOMH OLIVER PLUNKETT Monaghan Some subjects through Irish 19857T SCOIL ROIS Monaghan All subjects through Irish 19936P GAELSCOIL ULTAIN Monaghan All subjects through Irish 20026G Gaelscoil Bhreifne Cavan All subjects through Irish 20055N GAELSCOIL ÉOIS Monaghan All subjects through Irish 20327U Gaelscoil Lorgan Monaghan All subjects through Irish 20337A Edenmore N.S. Monaghan Some subjects through Irish 76091I Coláiste Oiriall Monaghan All subjects through Irish