338. D'fhiafraigh Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh den Aire Oideachais agus Óige an aontaíonn sí gur cheart na cóimheasa céanna idir daltaí agus múinteoirí a chur ar fáil do Ghaelscoileanna is a gcuirtear ar fáil do na scoileanna DEIS mar gheall ar na dúshláin atá le foghlaim an churaclaim trí mheán na Gaeilge, agus cad a dhéanfaidh sí chun aghaidh a thabhairt ar an gceist seo [48972/26]

Tá sé mar príomhthosaíocht ag mo roinn aghaidh a thabhairt ar mhíbhuntáiste oideachais. Tá an clár DEIS dírithe ar scoileanna a bhfuil na leibhéil is airde míbhuntáiste comhchruinnithe iontu. Glactar leis faoin gclár DEIS go gcaithfear acmhainní breise a dhíriú chomh dlúth agus is féidir ar na daltaí agus ar na scoláirí sin a bhfuil an leibhéal is mó riachtanas acu ar mhaithe leis an tionchar is mó agus is féidir a imirt ar bhaol an mhíbhuntáiste oideachais.

Cuireann an clár DEIS raon spriocdhírithe de thacaíochtaí ar fáil, sa bhreis ar na tacaíochtaí uilíocha a chuirtear ar fáil do gach scoil. I measc na dtacaíochtaí spriocdhírithe seo tá cóimheasa laghdaithe daltaí-múinteoirí, agus baineann scoileanna DEIS Uirbeach Banda 1 leas as meánchóimheasa 17:1, 21:1 agus 19:1 i scoileanna sóisearacha, sinsearacha agus ingearacha faoi seach.

Cuireann mo roinn leithdháiltí breise ar fáil don earnáil lán-Ghaeilge freisin a fhreagraíonn do riachtanais uathúla teanga na suíomhanna tumoideachais sin.

Déantar uaireanta tacaíochta teanga breise don Ghaeilge a leithdháileadh ar scoileanna atá rannpháirteach sa Scéim Aitheantais Scoileanna Gaeltachta, bunaithe ar rollúchán scoile. Leagadh amach sonraí an leithdháilte sin i gciorcláin a bhaineann leis an scéim le déanaí, i gCiorcláin 0015/2026 (do bhunscoileanna) agus 0016/2026 (d'iar-bhunscoileanna).

Cabhraíonn na huaireanta seo le scoileanna tacú le riachtanais éagsúla teanga na ndaltaí/scoláirí, lena n-áirítear iad siúd a bhfuil an Ghaeilge agus an Béarla ina dteangacha breise acu, agus chun saibhreas teanga na ndaltaí/scoláirí ar fad a fhorbairt, cainteoirí dúchais san áireamh.

Sheol mo roinn an Polasaí don Oideachas Lán-Ghaeilge lasmuigh den Ghaeltacht i mí na Samhna 2025. Ceann de na gníomhartha faoin bpolasaí, chun tacú le forbairt inniúlachta teanga daltaí agus scoláirí, is ea uaireanta tacaíochta teanga a leathnú go suíomhanna lán-Ghaeilge lasmuigh den Ghaeltacht ar bhonn céimnithe.

Cuireadh na huaireanta seo ar fáil d'iar-bhunscoileanna lán-Ghaeilge agus do bhunscoileanna lán-Ghaeilge lasmuigh den Ghaeltacht a bhfuil stádas DEIS acu ón scoilbhliain 2025/26. Gheobhaidh Aonaid lán-Ghaeilge na huaireanta seo ó thús na scoilbhliana 2026/27 chomh maith.

Addressing educational disadvantage is a key priority of my department. The DEIS programme is targeted at schools with the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage. The programme is based on the premise that in order to have the maximum possible impact on the risk of educational disadvantage that extra resources must be targeted as closely as possible at those students with the greatest level of need.

The DEIS programme provides a targeted range of supports and is additional to the universal supports provided to all schools. These targeted supports include reduced pupil-teacher ratios, with DEIS Urban Band 1 schools benefiting from average ratios of 17:1, 21:1 and 19:1 in junior, senior and vertical schools respectively.

My department also provides additional allocations to the Irish-medium sector in response to the unique language needs of these immersion settings.

Additional language support hours for Irish are allocated to schools participating in the Gaeltacht School Recognition Scheme based on school enrolment. Details of this allocation are set out in circulars relating to the scheme, most recently in Circulars 0015/2026 (for primary schools) and 0016/2026 (for post-primary schools).

These hours help schools to support the diverse language needs of pupils, including those for whom Irish and English are additional languages, and to develop the linguistic richness of all pupils, including native speakers of Irish.

The Policy for Irish-Medium Education outside of the Gaeltacht was launched by my department in November 2025. One of the actions under the policy, to support pupils’ and students’ development of language proficiency, is to extend the allocation of language support hours for Irish to all Irish-medium schools outside the Gaeltacht on a phased basis.

These hours have been made available to Irish-medium post-primary schools and to primary schools outside of the Gaeltacht with DEIS status from the 2025/26 school year. Aonaid lán-Ghaeilge will also receive these hours from the start of the 2026/27 school year.