Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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62. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when the long-awaited policy on Irish medium education outside the Gaeltacht will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23808/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Work is currently underway in my Department on the development of a new policy on Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht. This new policy will build on the achievements of the Policy on Gaeltacht Education and will be another important step towards achieving the Programme for Government commitment.

A public consultation process has been conducted to gather the views of stakeholders, including young people, parents, education professionals, education stakeholders and Irish-language organisations. There were three phases in this consultation – an online questionnaire and a call for written submissions, a series of focus groups, and bilateral meetings between my Department and stakeholders.

An Intradepartmental Working Group has been progressing work within my Department on the development of the policy. This has included the compilation and publication of a report on the provision of Irish-medium education outside of the Gaeltacht, and the development of a public consultation process.

A Steering Committee has also been established with representatives from relevant government departments and agencies to oversee the development of the policy.

Sealbhú, DCU carried out an analysis of all information gathered during all phases of the consultation. The reports have been shared with the Steering Committee and the Intradepartmental Working Group.

A number of actions have been taken to ensure that the new policy will be informed by current research:

- A review of national and international literature was commissioned through a public procurement process that was carried out by Sealbhú, DCU.

- A report giving an overview of provision for Irish-medium education outside of Gaeltacht areas was compiled and published by my Department.

- Research on Irish-medium Aonaid and Sruthanna (Units and Streams) in English-medium schools was carried out on behalf of my Department.

- Two composite reports on inspection findings on the quality of educational provision in Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí, covering the period 2017 to 2020, were published in spring 2021. These reports provide a helpful insight into relevant themes related to practice in schools.

It is my Department's intention that we will have an opportunity to discuss the direction of the policy with stakeholders before it is published. It is intended that actions from the policy will commence in the 2024/25 school year.

I look forward to bringing forward this important work, to strengthen Irish-medium education and to build on the positive results already being achieved in implementing the Policy on Gaeltacht Education.