Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 May 2026
543. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the total expenditure on English language supports for non-Irish national pupils in primary and post-primary schools in 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38971/26]
View answerThere is no single fixed figure for the number of EAL (English as an Additional Language) supports in Irish schools.
The Department has adapted to the dynamic landscape of student enrolment and has prioritised enhancing English as an Additional Language (EAL) support, recognising the critical role of language.
EAL provision in Ireland is not just delivered through a separate stand-alone EAL teacher workforce. Instead, EAL support can be provided through the Special Education Teaching (SET) allocation model, which includes an EAL component and allows schools to deploy teachers flexibly based on pupils’ needs. As a result, many teachers provide EAL support alongside other learning-support or special education duties, rather than being counted solely as “EAL teachers”. All schools are advised in the first instance to review whether the needs of newly enrolled pupils can be met from within existing allocations.
The Department's policies enable flexible resource allocation to ensure that the resources follow pupils in the event of them changing schools. These supports to schools, based on an application process, are provided for new-entrant pupils (i.e., pupils arrived in the country in the last 2 years with an EAL requirement). EAL supports are also provided for schools with a high concentration of pupils that are not classified as new-entrant pupils but who have an EAL need i.e., those pupils with less than 3 years EAL support and register less than B1 in an English proficiency test. In addition, further additional temporary EAL support is also provided through the Staffing Appeals Boards at both primary and post-primary level. There are close to 1,500 specific EAL teachers allocated to our schools in the current year in respect of EAL provision.
The Department’s Inspectorate report available on the Department website “Meeting Additional Language Needs: Whole-school and Classroom Approaches for Inclusive Language Learning” outlines the best practice approaches in the teaching and learning of EAL involving mainstream teachers. The report underscores the importance of English language provision for educational equity and wellbeing and applauds schools for promoting diversity and belonging. The Department will use its recommendations to enhance learning experiences across all schools.
