Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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812. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the translation of leaving certificate books into Irish; when biology, chemistry and physics books will be made available; the alternatives in place while students wait; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45352/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy should note that textbooks are only one of the broad range of educational materials and products, printed as well as digital and online, that are used in schools. The only requirement from my department for any resource used in a school, is that it is relevant to the curriculum. Ultimately, the decision on which resources and textbooks, if any, most appropriately supports the curriculum, are made by individual schools and their boards of management, not by my department.

The Deputy will also be aware that it is within the remit of An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta (COGG), an agency of my department, to provide Irish language teaching resources for schools including texts to support the teaching of subjects across the curriculum in Irish-medium schools. Significant progress has been made by COGG over the years in providing resources that meet the needs of teachers and students in schools.

COGG has developed and maintains a portal which provides access to teaching and learning resources for Gaeltacht and Irish-medium schools. Teachers produce resources for this portal, called ‘An Tairseach’, which are quality assured prior to their publication. Notes and resources for Junior and Senior Cycle subjects are available online on at www.tairseachcogg.ie and COGG works with teachers to provide new and revised comprehensive notes and supporting notes in all subjects. There are currently in excess of 2,000 resources on An Tairseach, between primary and post-primary school resources.

My department has provided for funding of just over €3m to COGG in 2025 and of this, €1m will be used for the provision of teaching and learning resources including textbooks. As with all public funding, COGG are careful to prioritise and support the production of books and other resources which support the greater number of students in order to get value for the investment. COGG maintain a careful balance between the translation of textbooks or resources written in English and the production of new textbooks and resources tailor made to meet the needs of students learning through the medium of Irish.

In the case of Biology, Chemistry and Physics, new textbooks in both English and Irish are required to reflect the content of the new specifications, but much of the existing teaching and learning material remains relevant, with other resources only require revisions. COGG have reviewed the resources already available on An Tairseach and engaged with teachers to produce new and revised materials to address the changes. I am happy to advise the Deputy that teaching and learning resources that cover all areas of the new specifications for Biology, Chemistry and Physics have been developed and will be available following the completion of the quality assurance process, during the current school year, 2025/2026.

In addition, Irish language versions of workbooks and laboratory books for Physics and Chemistry are already available free of charge through COGG. In partnership with an educational publisher, COGG will be developing sample exam papers for new specifications for Biology, Chemistry and Physics which will be ready during the year.

As textbooks for the new specifications for these subjects were not available in English until spring 2025, only after this time could COGG commence the process of arranging for the translation of suitable books into Irish, a process which involves a careful analysis of the translation to optimise it for the benefit of teachers and learners. COGG have an open tender process for the translation and subsequent publication of Physics and Chemistry textbooks to be ready in time for the 2026/2027 School Year. In the case of biology, COGG are supporting the writing of a new textbook, not based on an English textbook and the first 3 chapters will be available digitally in November with new sections added incrementally after that. The full book will be published in time for the beginning of the next school year, 2026-27.

This year a total of nine new textbooks were published including for five Senior Cycle subjects, German, Spanish, History, Business and Music, and four Junior Cycle books in Business, Engineering, History and Geography. COGG will continue to work on expanding the number and range of textbooks and other teaching and learning resources in the coming years. The redevelopment of Senior Cycle provides an appropriately paced, natural timeline for this development work for textbooks at that level. In addition to the ongoing production of new textbooks, it is planned that new editions of many of the current textbooks will be developed, particularly at Junior Cycle level, to adequately cater for the learning needs of students in Irish-medium and Gaeltacht schools.