Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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258. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if teachers in a Gaeltacht school lose any of their allowances where the parents vote to end the practice of immersive education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61566/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Policy for Gaeltacht Education aims to strengthen the provision of education through the medium of Irish in Gaeltacht language planning areas. As part of this Policy, the Gaeltacht School Recognition Scheme was established to provide additional targeted supports to schools in Gaeltacht language planning areas to fulfil language-based criteria so as to achieve recognition as a Gaeltacht school.

Schools in the Gaeltacht School Recognition Scheme made the decision to participate in the Scheme following consultation with their patron, the teaching staff, the parents’ association and the local language-planning committee. The approval of the school’s board of management was also needed before the Department could consider a school’s application to participate in the Scheme.

In common with a number of job-role based allowances, sanction for payment to new beneficiaries of the Gaeltacht allowance was withdrawn from 1 February 2012 following a public service-wide review of all allowances carried out by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. If a teacher was eligible for receipt of the allowance prior to 1 February 2012, they were entitled to keep it unless they left that job-role on or after 1 February 2012 on a voluntary basis.

The term of the Gaeltacht School Recognition Scheme was extended by two years to 2024 due to the impact of school closures as a result of the pandemic. Recognition as a Gaeltacht School has not been awarded to any school as of yet. Eligibility for the Gaeltacht allowance for teachers employed prior to 1 February 2012 is currently independent of their school’s participation in the Gaeltacht School Recognition Scheme.