Debate contribution: Irish-medium Education (Workforce Plan) Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Ms Cara Hunter on 14 April 2026.

MLA

Ms Cara Hunter

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

14 April 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Irish-medium Education (Workforce Plan) Bill: Second Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5482155

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate, and I thank the Member to my left for introducing the Bill. To echo the sentiment of the Chair of the Education Committee, we have heard extensively about the issue. We have heard a number of panels talk about the challenges in the Irish-medium sector and with workforce planning, so I really welcome the opportunity that the Bill presents. We must celebrate the remarkable growth of the Irish-medium sector, which has seen a 400% increase in the past 25 years. Although the demand for Irish-medium education continues to climb, teachers and school leaders in the sector rightfully contend that they feel very strongly that funding has not been matched at an appropriate level by the Department. As has been highlighted by CnaG, the Department has failed in many ways to address serious issues: teacher retention; the production of Irish language learning resources; support for examination marking; and the need to adequately address the challenge of providing specialised staffing for Irish language-speaking students and support for children with special educational needs such as dyslexia, including the provision of support for speech and language therapy and child psychology. Those prominent outstanding concerns remain. Despite a lack of support and investment, our Irish-medium sector teachers and staff do incredible work, as I have seen at first hand in my constituency at Gaelcholáiste Dhoire in Dungiven. So many of the staff there are on the front line, keeping the language alive and allowing it to grow and flourish every day. As someone who did not grow up speaking Irish, I find it really inspiring and encouraging to see how such schools use the language every day, which they do with our young people in such a fun and engaging way. The workforce does that because of its incredible grá

Its workers have a love of the language, and they bring that energy, love and effort to the classroom every day. They have a passion for our young people and a true commitment to revitalising the language in the classroom and on this island. Whilst I recognise that many in the Department of Education equally cherish the language and work hard to support the sector, we feel strongly that that is not adequate and that more must be done to invest in our workforce and ensure that it is well supported. The Irish language has the same rights as the English language and must be treated accordingly. Minister, I genuinely welcome your work on the Irish language. You committed funding to the Scoil Spreagtha scheme after meeting me and my colleague Patsy McGlone. I welcome the fact that, right now, we see children across the North learning the language in English-speaking classrooms. I wish that we had had that when I was at school; I would have absolutely loved it. I will make a broader point, however. Now is the time to comprehensively deal with the real workforce challenges in the sector. Across the Irish-medium sector, staff whom I have spoken to — teachers and classroom assistants — feel frustrated and overlooked. Today's conversation is so welcome because it is about considering the investment that they will need in order to flourish. As is well known, a disproportionate number of our Irish-medium staff teach in buildings that have long seen better days and mobile classrooms that are long past their sell-by date. They do so while delivering a first-class education, disproportionately often to children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. There are more children in receipt of free school meals in Irish-medium schools than in English language schools. It is perhaps less well known that children in Irish-medium schools are disproportionately likely to have special educational needs. Despite that, they lack the specialised language support that they so desperately need. Fundamentally, that is not a stand-alone education issue but an equality issue. I also note that many talented Irish-speaking teachers often go over the border to the South, because they are better paid there, and who can blame them? Here, it is time to look at the long term to ensure continuity of Irish-medium education. The Minister has stated clearly his aims to reduce educational inequality, to advance achievement and to support teachers across the North. We say today that the Irish-medium sector must not be forgotten, that its particular needs must be recognised and that the Assembly must lay down a framework that will finally address its concerns. Parents, teachers and pupils in the Irish-medium sector across the North are listening to the debate today, expecting to be treated and supported in the same way as they would be in other sectors. By advancing the Bill, we will go one step further towards addressing their needs. It is important that we do so without delay. In closing, I will be frank in looking at the wider neglect of the Irish-medium sector. Our teachers across the North are in classrooms that are falling apart. When you speak to teachers and school leaders in the north-west in particular, you hear that there is so much mould in the classrooms, which have been there since the 1970s — there are also challenges in west Belfast — and that is not fair. Our teachers and school leaders show up every day wanting to share their learning and educate our young people, but they are in facilities that are not appropriate and that desperately need investment. The SDLP will support the Bill at Second Stage and welcome it as an opportunity to talk about the ongoing challenges in the Irish-medium sector. Thank you very much, Pat, for introducing it.

938 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:17 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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