Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 January 2026
330. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Education and Youth if her Department has considered a target for primary schools to become Gaelscoileanna using the Content and Language Integrated Learning method. [2997/26]
View answerContent and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is a dual-focused educational approach in which an additional language is used for the learning and teaching of both language and content. The Department of Education and Youth’s Irish Language CLIL Project was developed from a pilot proposed in the education-related objectives set out in the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish language 2010-2030 and the associated Action Plan 2018-2022. This included the commitment to explore a CLIL approach to implementing partial immersion in Irish in English-medium schools. A parallel CLIL project is being run with foreign languages in post-primary schools as set out in Languages Connect, Ireland’s Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education 2017-2026. My department’s CLIL project is focused on improving the teaching and learning of Irish in schools where English is the medium of instruction rather than being a means to expand the availability of Irish-medium education.
The Policy for Irish-Medium Education outside of the Gaeltacht was launched on 6 November 2025. A key action under this policy is the establishment of a Taskforce on Models of Provision for Irish-Medium Education, which will provide a platform for collaboration between my department and key stakeholders to identify pathways to grow the Irish-medium education sector. Among the issues being explored by the taskforce are the development of procedures to support schools in the effective transition from an English-medium to an Irish-medium model as well as procedures and criteria for how schools/educational settings can transition from one model to another on the continuum of Irish-medium education, in order to increase the provision of Irish-medium education, and the supports they may need to do so. We recognise that there is potential for elements of the CLIL project to be beneficial in this process.
