Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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107. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 418 of 11 October 2022, if minutes are published in respect of the meetings of the steering committee overseeing the development of a new policy on Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht; if not, her plans to publish same; if minutes are published in respect of the meetings of the interdepartmental working group; if not, her plans to publish same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58222/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Steering Committee overseeing the development of the new policy on Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht consists of representatives from relevant government departments and agencies. Two meetings of the Steering Committee have been held to date, in April and October 2022. The minutes of Steering Committee meetings will be published on gov.ie after draft minutes have been approved by the committee members.

An internal intradepartmental working group was established within my department in September 2021 and has had 14 meetings to date. This intradepartmental working group is progressing work on developing the new policy. It facilitates the exchange of information within the department in order to ensure coordination of information and cross-departmental consistency in the work on developing the new policy. This working group consists of officers from relevant units within my department. Minutes of the meetings of the intradepartmental working group are not published but have been released in line with Freedom of Information legislation.

The intradepartmental working group continues to meet regularly to progress the work of developing the new policy. The Steering Committee receives updates on its work and has given direction in relation to the ongoing work of the working group.