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Minister turns down proposal to establish a nursery unit at Gaelscoil na Móna

Education Minister, John O’Dowd, has turned down a development proposal for the establishment of a 26 full-time place statutory nursery unit at Gaelscoil na Móna, Belfast.
~ Tuesday, 31 January 2012

Explaining the reasons for his decision, Mr O’Dowd commented: “I take my statutory duties in relation to Irish- medium education very seriously. Each development proposal for the establishment of new provision must, however, be carefully considered on the basis of all the information pertinent to the individual case.

“The Department of Education faces significant financial pressures, particularly on its front-line schools’ budget. Every time that I approve a development proposal for a statutory nursery school, it creates extra pressure on the front-line schools’ budget. Given the current Budget restriction facing my Department it is important that we maximise the impact of available pre-school resources and avoid unnecessary over provision or duplication.

“In this instance, I am satisfied that there are already sufficient Irish-medium pre-school places in the local area and providing additional places would only serve to displace the good quality voluntary pre-school provision already in existence there. On that basis, I could not endorse this proposal.”

Notes to editors:

  1. On 2 June 2011, the Belfast Education and Library Board (BELB) published Development Proposal (DP) No. 205, which proposes the establishment of a 26 full-time place statutory nursery unit at Gaelscoil na Móna to be known as Naíscoil na Móna, with effect from 1 September 2011, or as soon as possible thereafter. The statutory two-month consultation period ended on 2 August 2011.
  2. There is currently an associated voluntary pre-school playgroup, known as Naíscoil na Móna. In 2010/11, the playgroup had 18 PEAG funded places with an overall total enrolment of 29 pupils . In 2011/12, the playgroup has 17 PEAG funded places with an overall total enrolment of 25 pupils.
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