302. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Education and Youth the reason for the decision to remove the preferential teacher-to-pupil ratio for Gaelscoileanna. [53018/26]

The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September.

Prior to 2011, gaelscoileanna with nine teachers or less had a slightly more favourable staffing schedule than English-medium schools.  As part of Budget 2011 measures, the enrolment thresholds for gaelscoileanna were brought into line with English-medium schools.

Since then, gaelscoileanna have benefitted from the prioritisation given to reducing the pupil teacher ratio in primary schools in recent budgets.  The teacher allocation ratio now stands at an average of 1 classroom teacher for every 23 pupils in all primary schools, the most favourable ratio ever seen at primary level. A three-point reduction in the retention schedule, which was introduced in 2021, assists schools that would otherwise be at risk of losing teaching posts.

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 students’ and pupils’ development of language proficiency is the allocation of language support hours for Irish 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.   These hours help schools to support the diverse language needs of pupils, including those for whom both Irish and English are additional languages, and to develop the linguistic richness of all pupils.

Under the Programme for Government there is a commitment to aim to reduce the general pupil teacher ratio at primary level to 19:1. I am considering how best to make further progress in this area as part of the annual budgetary process.