Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 March 2026
531. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether her Department intends to publish a multi annual strategy setting out clear timelines, targets and capital allocations for the expansion of Irish medium education in north Dublin and nationally; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17178/26]
View answerThe Programme for Government 2025, 'Securing Ireland’s Future', includes a commitment to establish Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí where there is demand and support parents choosing Irish-medium education for their children.
In this regard, my department published a ‘Policy for Irish-medium Education outside of the Gaeltacht’. A key recommendation of this report was the establishment of a Taskforce on Models of Provision for Irish-medium Education, which commenced its work in November 2025. The role of the taskforce is to provide a platform for collaboration between my department and key stakeholders to develop a pathway to increase provision of Irish-medium education nationally. The taskforce's work is expected to be completed within one year. It will make recommendations to my department on areas such as the criteria for Irish-medium education provision, how to support schools transitioning to Irish-medium education and mechanisms to facilitate expansion of provision.
Also, on 4 November 2025, my department published a 'Framework and Action Plan for Delivery of Increased Choice for Parents on Education Provision at Primary Level'. The initial focus of the framework and action plan was an online, school-specific survey. This Primary School Survey launched on 4 November and ran to 16 December 2025.
This national primary school survey, the largest of its kind ever undertaken in Ireland, was school specific and through its results, aims to assess parental demand and preferences for different types of primary school provision including the language of instruction (English or Irish).
The survey preferences on providing education primarily through the English language or through the Irish language will inform potential future local consultation around opportunities to increase the provision of education through Irish.
The survey itself is not a final step. Where there is clear support from parents and guardians for change to be considered, a further process of inclusive dialogue will begin.
Initial high-level summary results focusing on response rates will be published in early 2026, with a Q2 2026 timeframe for school-level data.
It is also worth noting, that in addition to the above measures, my department recently published an NDP Sectoral Investment Plan which provides information on the direction of Irish-medium provision and notes that capital investment of €466m has been made in this area since 2020. Additional investment is planned for Irish-medium provision as part of the phased implementation of projects under the NDP in 2026 and 2027.
