Robert Troy
Question:286. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education and Youth to outline the process for identifying suitable sites for an secondary Gaelscoil. [33562/26]
View answerThursday, 7 May 2026
Questions (286)
Written answers
New schools are only established in areas of demographic growth, as the resources available for school infrastructure have to be prioritised to ensure that every child has a school place.
If additional accommodation is required, the aim to try and facilitate this, as much as possible, by way of expansion of existing schools rather than establishing new schools. The expansion of existing schools is consistent with wider Government objectives under Project Ireland 2040 for an increased emphasis on compact growth.
In respect of post primary schools, new post primary schools must have a student enrolment capacity of 600-1,000 students and must be co-educational. A lower threshold of 400 students may apply to gaelcholáistí, having regard to the alternative of establishing an Irish-medium unit (aonad) in an English-medium school.
The 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, the 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 the 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 the department on areas such as the criteria for Irish-medium education provision, how to support schools transitioning to Irish-medium and mechanisms to facilitate expansion of provision.
The department recently published a 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.