Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 July 2025
446. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Education and Youth her plans to recruit teachers qualified in Braille, Irish Sign Language and other ways of communication in schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37900/25]
View answer447. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Education and Youth her plans to recruit more teachers with disabilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37901/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 446 and 447 together.
Ensuring that every child's experience in school is positive and that they have qualified, engaged teachers available to support them in their learning is a priority area of action for the Government.
The recruitment and appointment of teachers for teaching positions is managed by individual school authorities. There are over 3,700 individual school authorities, responsible for this process, including boards of management at primary and post-primary schools, as well as Education and Training Boards (ETBs).
This Government is fully committed to supporting children with special educational needs to fulfil their full potential. The Department recognises the importance of providing well-timed and appropriate support to pupils with identified learning needs.
The special education teacher (SET) allocation for mainstream schools provides a single unified allocation for special educational support teaching needs to each school, based on the educational needs profile of each school.
Schools are provided with ring-fenced SET resources for the purpose of supporting pupils with an identified and recorded special education learning need. This allocation allows schools to provide additional teaching support for pupils who require such support in their schools based on each pupil’s individual learning needs.
It is a matter for schools to deploy SET resources effectively to meet the needs identified in Student Support Plans, which should be based on the continuum of support framework. Once the Department allocates SET hours to a school it is the responsibility of the school and the board management to utilise the allocation to meet the needs of those students with special educational needs.
The National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has responsibility for coordinating and advising on the education provision for children nationwide.
The visiting teacher service for the blind/ visually impaired and deaf hard of hearing forms part of the NCSE support service for schools. They offer longitudinal support to children who are deaf, hard of hearing or blind or visually impaired. This service provides qualified teachers, who have particular skills and knowledge of the development and education of children with varying degrees of hearing loss/visual impairment to support the child, the school and parents.
The work of the visiting teachers (VTs) involves liaising with other professionals and agencies such as ophthalmology services, low vision specialists, psychologists, early intervention teams, school staffs, and with parents. VTs provide support in the development of pre-braille skills and mobility for children with visual impairment, and they discuss and demonstrate the management of low vision aids and assistive technologies. Many of the VTs are proficient in the teaching of Braille and the NCSE also has an induction programme in place for new VTs to learn Braille and to upskill in this area.
In terms of the curriculum, there are four modules on Irish Sign Language (ISL) available as part of the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme. This course introduces students to ISL and aims to develop their expressive and receptive communication skills. The course also develops awareness and appreciation of the Irish deaf community and its culture. Leaving Certificate (established) students who use ISL as their first language have been offered the opportunity by the State Examinations Commission and the Department to undertake the ISL modules from the Leaving Certificate Applied and obtain an integrated set of Leaving Certificate results which will reflect their achievement in ISL alongside their Leaving Certificate results.
In addition, at primary level, the “Say Yes to Languages” programme for senior classes in primary schools was introduced in September 2021/22 in advance of the formal inclusion of foreign languages on the Primary Language Curriculum on a phased basis from September 2025. Over the last four years, participating primary schools have used a wide range of sixteen languages as part of this programme, including ISL. In 2025/26, over 1,300 primary schools will participate in phase two the programme for 5th and 6th classes as the new curriculum is phased in from 3rd class.
Opportunities for students to learn ISL are also available during transition year. Each school designs its own transition year programme, within set guidelines, to suit the needs and interests of its students. In establishing its own distinctive programme content, the school takes into account the possibilities offered by local community interests.
The Department wishes to build on this provision and ensure that ISL is provided for throughout the curriculum at primary and post-primary level. Action 5.3.9 ‘Develop a curriculum at primary and post-primary level for Irish Sign Language to support the learning of ISL and learning in other areas for ISL users’ is included in the Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy published in May 2024. Since publication of the strategy, I wrote to the National Council for Curriculum Assessment (NCCA) requesting them to begin work on the development of a curriculum in ISL. This direction reflects my commitment to ensuring that there is a standard ISL pathway for learners, both as a first language and as an additional language, and a possibility of a qualification in ISL for students which can be used to access third level education.
The NCCA has undertaken research to gain insight into curriculums for sign language across a range of education systems internationally. This includes initial research to identify jurisdictions that offer sign language as a (mainstream) curricular language, and at what phases of education (early childhood, primary, and/or lower and upper secondary) sign language is offered. The desk study evidence provides a starting point for the discussion and consideration of curriculum development in ISL. The report can be found here: ncca.ie/en/publications-and-research/our-research/sign-language-in-the-mainstream-curriculum/
As is the case with other curricula, curriculum development will involve scoping the work, establishing a development group, widespread consultation with stakeholders and especially with ISL users. The development of a curriculum will always take a number of years, and it is expected that will be the case here as it will be a signed language curriculum across both primary and post-primary, which will require a unique approach. The NCCA has recruited staff with ISL expertise and initial work is underway. The issue of teachers who are suitably qualified to deliver the ISL curricula will be considered in due course as part of the overall project.
In more general terms, a range of teacher supply measures have been introduced including recently a new teacher supply measure to help teachers gain permanent roles more quickly. Additionally, the Teaching Council is to streamline the registration process for eligible teachers who qualified outside of Ireland, allowing them to apply for registration and complete their induction requirements within the country.
In addition, a PME fee refund scheme was introduced in Budget 2024 which is in addition to the work on workforce planning for teachers and SNAs, reflects the commitment to ongoing investment in the education system to address teacher supply.
I am considering further measures to strengthen the teaching workforce and ensure that schools have the support needed to provide an excellent education for every student.
