Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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337. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on the strategy for teaching Irish in schools outside of Gaeltacht areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22835/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department, through a variety of initiatives, continues to promote Irish in the education system and to support Irish-medium education. The Department is contributing to a number of actions in the Government’s 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030 and the 5 Year Action Plan 2018 -2022, that highlight the Department’s commitment in this area.

My Department is also currently developing a new policy on Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht. Within the broad scope of this project, the areas of teacher education and continuing professional development (CPD) will be considered during the development of this policy in order to address the need for teachers and other staff with a high standard of Irish to meet demand in Irish-medium education settings.

A range of supports and initiatives are currently underway, including those outlined below.

The Department provides funding to support the Gaelbhratach programme at primary and post primary level, and has funded the scheme on an annual basis. Gaelbhratach is a scheme which supports and encourages schools in their efforts to promote the Irish language.

In relation to teacher professional development, the Department, through the support services, offers high quality and relevant continuing professional development (CPD) through the medium of, and in relation to, Gaeilge to teachers and school leaders in a range of pedagogical, curricular, leadership and educational areas. Core CPD and school supports are provided to schools which are operating through the medium of Irish.

The Department funded Support Services:

- Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) (cross sectoral service covering primary and senior cycle at post-primary)

- Junior Cycle for Teachers (JCT) (junior cycle)

- National Induction Programme for Teachers (NIPT) (primary and post-primary) and the

- Centre for School Leadership (CSL) (primary and post-primary).

provide a wide variety of supports to teachers to support teacher in the area of Irish. These include, supports for Newly Qualified Teachers, live and interactive online sessions, sustained school supports, workshops, online resources, summer courses, webinars, whole school days as Gaeilge and in some cases dedicated teams to provide specific areas as Gaeilge.

The Summer Course Programme also encourages the provision of courses which support teachers in the teaching of Gaeilge based on the Primary School Language Curriculum 2019.

Under the Policy on Gaeltacht Education, to increase the supply of teachers available to teach effectively through the medium of Irish in Gaeltacht schools, two higher education programmes have been established:

- A new Irish-medium Bachelor of Education primary initial teacher education programme commenced in 2019.

-A new blended-Learning Masters in Education on Irish-medium and Gaeltacht Education in 2018.

Education Support Centres across the country also provide several courses in the area of Gaeilge. Additionally, Education Support Centres Ireland (ESCI) is engaging with Marino Institute of Education and NUI Maynooth in relation to a Gaeilge Initiative aimed at improving competencies for teaching and learning of Irish in English medium primary schools.