A valid petition of concern has been received in respect of the motion. [Interruption.]

Order. Members must resume their seats.

Having checked the petition, I regard it as fulfilling the requirements of Standing Order 27. However, the presentation of the petition means that a vote on the motion may not be held at the conclusion of the debate. The Business Committee agreed, at its lunchtime meeting, that the vote will take place as the first item of business on Monday 19 November 2007.

Members should also note that the vote on the motion will be conducted on a cross-community basis. Members who wish to inspect the petition of concern may do so in the Business Office. We shall proceed with the debate, for which the Business Committee has agreed to allow up to one hour and 30 minutes. The proposer of the motion will have 10 minutes to propose and 10 minutes for the winding-up speech. All other Members who wish to speak will have five minutes.

I beg to move

That this Assembly opposes the introduction of a club-bank arrangement for establishing Irish-medium schools in Northern Ireland.

From the outset, I would like to make it clear that the motion does not represent a sectarian attack on the teaching of the Irish language. It seems that there are parties in the Chamber that have such an agenda. The Minister is so belligerent that, in following a narrow sectarian political agenda, she has adopted the safety net of a petition of concern to ensure that she gets her way. Obviously, she is convinced that she will not win the argument. The motion is concerned with the provision of a level playing field whereby education is provided in an even-handed way, without advantage to any sector.

Since the Assembly came into being, much has been said about fairness and equality. The introduction of a club bank arrangement for establishing Irish-medium schools in Northern Ireland does nothing for fairness and equality, nor does it promote the concept of a shared future. It is my opinion, and that of my party, that the controlled sector caters for everyone. Having four sectors is not logical, and places too great a financial burden on the Department of Education. Things were bad enough when there were two sectors; next we had the integrated sector; and now we have the promotion of the Irish-medium sector. At present, according to the report of the independent strategic review of education, there are 50,000 empty places in our schools.

(Mr Speaker in the Chair)

It is estimated that due to the decline in pupil numbers there will be an additional 30,000 surplus places over the next 10 years. The opening of further Irish-medium schools can only add to that problem.

The sector potentially most at risk from the unfair advantage being given to those schools is the Catholic maintained sector. Given that, due to falling numbers, schools are being amalgamated or closed in order to save costs, it seems amazing that more investment in Irish-medium schools is planned. Despite that, it has been proposed that a club-bank system, similar to that currently in place for the integrated sector, be established for the benefit of the Irish-medium sector. Such club banks have an unfair advantage over the controlled schools and the Catholic maintained schools. As such, I find the concept wholly objectionable.

In order to put that into context, I will briefly explain how the club-bank system works, but, at the same time, try to avoid sending my colleagues into a coma. The Integrated Education Fund was established in 1992 to provide a more co-ordinated approach to the funding issue. The Integrated Education Fund (IEF) and the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE) made arrangements with three banks; in return for depositing £1 million, the Integrated Education Fund could borrow up to £10 million to finance the capital costs of establishing new integrated schools. If after at least three years the school has been deemed viable, it will, according to the Department of Education, receive recognition for capital grant aid. During the course of assessment for viability, the Department of Education is responsible for any interest due on the loans. The school would then be reimbursed by the Department for any capital expenditure incurred during the period that it is funded by the club bank.

It is not therefore simply a case of £1 million being spent and, all of a sudden, self-sufficient schools appear. Rather, £1 million is spent, and then once the school is set up, the Department must once again open up the coffers. The Department has spent £33 million in the last five years funding similar schemes in the integrated sector.

The viability criteria for Irish-medium schools are based on enrolment figures for two consecutive years, plus estimates for the third year. The Department of Education will currently grant recognition and grant-aid status for 12 pupils in year one. With the best will in the world, it would be difficult to see how a school could not meet those criteria as they are set so low. Once the viability criteria are met, the school is eligible for grant funding. A decision to amalgamate St Joseph’s Primary School in Ahoghill with St Patrick’s Primary School in Aughtercloney was made when the schools were attracting numbers of 18 and 26 respectively. However, Irish-medium schools are deemed viable and eligible for grant funding with only 24 pupils and an estimated enrolment figure for the third year.

The council for Irish-medium education is to operate the scheme in the same way as NICIE does for grant-maintained integrated schools — or so we are led to believe by the Department of Education. However, details are so thin on the ground as to be virtually non-existent. Last year the then Education Minister, Angela Smith, confirmed that the Department of Education had directed more than £1,300 towards a report into the operation of the club-bank system. Perhaps the Minister will confirm that this report is now available in order that the wider public can be made aware of the system and the conclusions contained in the report. I would be grateful if the Minister would refer to it in her remarks.

For Members’ information, the Minister has already requested that the sum of £1 million be allocated in 2008-09 for an Irish-medium building fund club bank. That is before the report on the club-bank system has been made available for consideration, and also before the Minister’s review of Irish-medium education has been completed and considered. Does that mean that she is determined to press ahead with her plans, regardless of those outcomes?

In addition to the bid for £1 million, the Minister is also asking for additional financial support for Irish-medium schools: £170,000 in 2008-09 for Irish-medium budgets, rising to £230,000; £215,000 over three years for language enhancement for teachers in the Irish-medium sector; £75,000 over three years to upgrade Irish-language skills for pre-school workers; and £6 million over three years for curriculum support.

With reference to those additional moneys that are required to enhance and upgrade the language skills, it seems incredible that Government money is being spent on teaching teachers what is allegedly their own language. Are similar amounts of money being spent on teachers who teach English in the controlled sector or in the Catholic maintained sector?

In a previous debate, the Minister lambasted Members and told them to read the report of the Independent Strategic Review of Education.

I ask her to do the same, and I specifically draw her attention to chapter 9 of the Bain Report, which is titled “Planning: A Strategic Approach”. The report recom­mends area-based planning, and that the Department of Education should proceed with that until the education and skills authority is established. It also states that:

“future school building projects should be approved only after area-based planning is established”.

That does not seem to fit well with the Minister’s bid for £1 million to establish an Irish-medium club bank. Is she continuing to pick and choose the aspects of the Bain Report that suit her agenda? Members are still waiting for the Minister to clarify her position on the recommendations of the report in its totality. The simple fact is that limited money is available for investment in education. Investment should be made on the basis of area planning, and need must be identified. A club-bank system merely impedes area-based planning by creating a bias through the provision of financial incentives.

To use such a scheme is an attempt to circumvent the system and impose a new set of rules for Irish-medium education and protections that do not apply to mainstream schools in Northern Ireland. That should not surprise us, however, after what we have all seen. At a time of budgetary constraints across all Departments, money could be better spent on school repairs, on existing grant-maintained schools, which cater for the overwhelming majority of pupils, or on the dire need to deal with illiteracy and innumeracy in society.

In the Department of Education’s ‘A Consultation on Schools for the Future: A Policy for Sustainable Schools’, criteria are set out that must be adhered to before opening a school can be considered. One criterion is financial viability. A school with only 50 pupils costs almost 200% more than an average school, which has around 140 pupils. The Department’s consultation document points out that that rises to almost 300% more if a school has fewer than 20 pupils. According to the Department, in order to establish viability, an Irish-medium school has only to show an intake of 12 pupils in year 1 and 12 in year 2, and it has only to provide estimates for year 3. If the Minister determines that three schools meet the viability criteria with 24 pupils and an estimate, each school will cost, in the worst-case scenario, 200% more than the average school.

I may be accused of scaremongering when I say that. However, over the summer, the Minister announced the opening of three Irish-medium schools: one in Londonderry; one in Glengormley; and another in Crumlin. According to the Department of Education, the school in Glengormley has only 13 pupils enrolled in year 1. How does that school meet the viability criteria? The school in Londonderry has 15 pupils in year 1, but only seven in year 2 and nine in year 3. Again, how does that school meet the viability criteria? The school in Crumlin had an intake of 12 pupils in year 1, one in year 2, four in year 3 and three in year 4. Will the Minister apply the criteria that she used to award grant funding to those three schools when she uses the club-bank system? If so, I dread to imagine the impact of that far from thriving sector on the meagre resources of the education system.

In proposing area-based planning, the report of the independent strategic review of education — the Bain Report — calls for fairness, equality and cost effect­iveness. A club-bank system that will be to the advantage of Irish-medium education will achieve none of those aims. For those reasons, I ask the Assembly to vote in favour of the motion.

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an rún seo atá os comhair an Tionóil. Cé go bhfuil buaireamh orm faoi, sílim ag an am chéanna go dtugann sé deis dúinn an t-ábhar tábhachtach seo a dhíospóireacht.

I welcome the motion on the club-bank scheme. Although I have concerns about the motives behind the tabling of the motion, I welcome a debate on the scheme and its use in the Irish-medium sector. Therefore, I thank Michelle McIlveen and Mervyn Storey for securing the debate.

The motion is dressed up as concern over the club-bank scheme as a means of funding schools, but it is really an attack on the Irish-medium education sector.

It is disappointing that, once again, the DUP is playing politics over the provision of Irish-language schools. Of course, such attacks are not confined to the Irish-medium sector; the DUP has also shown hostility to the Catholic education sector and the integrated sector. Michelle McIlveen, for example, recently called for the abolition of the Catholic, Irish-medium and integrated sectors. One has to question that type of approach, as it insults the parents, children, staff and teachers at those schools. It tells me that the DUP cannot tolerate minorities in society.

Let us consider the facts behind the club-bank scheme in relation to the Irish-medium sector without all of the DUP’s alarmist and scaremongering language. There is growing evidence that children in the Irish-medium sector are receiving their education in an environment of substandard buildings and poor facilities. A two-tier system is in place when it comes to the provision of school buildings and accommodation. The club-bank scheme aims to enable children in the Irish-medium sector to receive education in improved accommodation and school buildings, without any risk to the public purse.

This debate also raises an equality issue. The club-bank scheme is a way of helping to ensure that children in the Irish-medium sector are not taught in lower standards of accommodation than other education sectors. It has been said that the integrated sector has been using this kind of scheme since the mid-1990s, when there was recognition that newly established integrated schools would not be included in the capital building programme until they had demonstrated a level of enrolments that would make the school viable. The objective of the club-bank scheme is to minimise the risk to public money of a significant capital loss if a new school were to fail during its initial start-up phase. A few years ago, the Department of Education reviewed the use of the scheme in the integrated sector and concluded that it should continue.

The Department of Education has undertaken to provide an initial lump sum to allow Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta agus Iontaobhas na Gaelscolaíochta to start a club-bank scheme by drawing loans from their chosen bank. The idea of the club-bank scheme is that it allows the Department of Education to share the risk for schools that have not yet met the threshold for capital support grants. Accommodation in the Irish-medium sector is significantly worse than in any other sector, and that must be addressed. The club-bank scheme is an innovative attempt to get to grips with the accommodation crisis in the sector, and it should be actively encouraged. Irish-medium schools have not been funded by the Department of Education through the club-bank scheme to date, and, if the club-bank scheme is to be taken away, rather than expanded, people here must ask themselves how the Irish-medium and integrated sectors are to be funded.

A growing number of parents are choosing to have their children educated through the medium of the Irish language. That is happening at a time of falling rolls and an increasing number of empty desks in our schools. We have a diverse education system, and many parents wish to have their children educated through the Irish-medium sector. If the Assembly supports the motion, it must tell both the Irish and integrated sectors how they will be funded.

My preferred option, with regard to the facilitation of the teaching and learning of Irish in schools, would be to build on the excellent work that is being undertaken in Irish-language units that are attached to maintained schools across Northern Ireland. That meets the crucial criteria that should be of concern to the cash-strapped Executive. It integrates children whose parents wish them to be schooled in Irish with their wider peer group in a district or parish. It is also a more cost-effective approach to the provision of education.

I have concerns over the rapidly escalating costs which, in recent years, have been associated with the expansion of exclusive Irish-medium schools.

There is also the practical matter of the serious shortfall in the number of qualified teachers who are available to teach a range of specialist subjects in Irish. Those subjects are vital if pupils are to pursue examination courses effectively and realise their full potential in life.

In the past seven years, £47 million has been spent on Irish-medium education. I am sure that I am not alone in pondering what impact that sum of money could have made if it had been spent on raising the literacy and numeracy levels in schools located in marginalised communities such as the Falls, the Shankill, the Bogside and the rural communities west of the Bann.

The club-bank mechanism is an intriguing approach to facilitating the wishes of a small number of enthusiasts. As has been mentioned, from the mid-1990s, the lobby for integrated education used the mechanism for many years. The Department of Education facilitated the approach, and the appearance of new schools reflected the obvious attraction of being able to access such a funding stream.

It is small wonder, therefore, that the controlled and maintained sectors, which, after all, represent the overwhelming majority of schoolchildren, looked on in awe. It is understandable that many associated with those two major sectors felt that the club-bank scheme did more than merely facilitate: it created an advantage that they could not hope to emulate.

One cannot blame Irish-medium schools for wanting to hitch their wagon to a similar scheme. The potential danger of widening division that is caused by this mechanism was apparent in the mid-1990s. The model that Members are debating today underlines the danger of that ever-growing division and flies in the face of the clichés of a shared future and a shared vision to which the Assembly is supposed to aspire.

All Irish-medium schools are funded under the common funding formula, as are the controlled and maintained schools. A vesting process is initiated when schools reach the prescribed viability criteria which, as has been mentioned, are normally based on enrolment figures for two consecutive years: currently the figure is 15 for schools in Belfast and Londonderry and 12 for those located elsewhere. Furthermore, there must be evidence of an expected intake in the third year of 20 pupils in Belfast and Londonderry and 15 elsewhere.

The Integrated Education Fund and the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education made an arrangement with the agreement of the three banks. That arrangement requires £1 million from the IEF, against which £10 million can be borrowed to finance capital costs. After three years, schools receive recognition for capital grant aid. Vesting is carried out by solicitors for the Department, NICIE and the schools. When the process is complete, any approved capital expenditure is reimbursed.

Presumably, the Irish-medium club bank would seek to make a similar arrangement. The trust fund for Irish-medium education would underwrite a new school’s capital costs, and the Council for Irish-Medium Education would operate the scheme in a similar fashion to NICIE.

The central issue is equality for all, and advantage, real or perceived, to none. The fundamental shortage of funds necessary to achieve educational progress is all too obvious to Members. Therefore, it is essential to direct funds to where they are needed — to improve the levels of literacy and numeracy in all schools. That would better enhance the employability prospects of pupils, and nowhere is that required more than in the urban and rural areas in which the most marginalised young people live. Such investment would improve their quality of life and their future prospects immeasurably.

The Member’s time is almost up.

It would also improve the overall social cohesion of the entire community and move us towards the shared future that everyone seeks.

Go raibh céad maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Tá an-áthas orm labhairt ar an rún seo. Ní hé go n-aontaím leis — ní aontaím leis in aon chor. Mar sin féin, fáiltím roimh an deis forbairt na gaelscolaíochta anseo sa Tuaisceart a phlé. Caithfidh mé a dhearbhú ag an tús go bhfuil spéis ar leith agam sa ghnó seo toisc go bhfuil mé i mo bhall de bhord ghobharnóirí gaelscoile in Iúr Cinn Trá agus toisc go raibh baint agam le bunú roinnt naíscoileanna

I cannot say that I agree with the motion. However, I welcome the opportunity to discuss the development of Irish-medium education in Northern Ireland, as did Mr Butler.

I declare an interest as a member of the board of governors of an Irish-medium school. I have also been involved in setting up a number of Irish-medium preschools.

The rapid growth and development of the Irish-medium sector over the past 37 years has been amazing. It is a story of diligence and dedication against great odds to realise a vision that many would have considered impossible. Only five pupils attended the first Irish-medium school, Bunscoil Phobal Feirste, which was founded in 1971. It took 13 years of continuous voluntary work and fund-raising before official recognition was gained for the school from the Department of Education.

The efforts of the founders of Bunscoil Phobal Feirste are indicative of the work that parents have been prepared to put in to ensure that their children can avail of Irish-medium education. Further testimony to their commit­ment is the present state of Irish-medium education, with 46 naíscoileanna — pre-school units — 33 bunscoileanna — primary schools — and three meánscoileanna — post-primary schools. By any measure, that is a remarkable development and it shows beyond a shadow of a doubt why Irish-medium education is considered to be the fastest-growing area of education, even in a situation of declining rolls. Irish-medium education is represented in the controlled, maintained and voluntary sectors.

There is considerable demand for Irish-medium education, and the Department of Education is legally bound to provide for that demand. Irish-medium education provides children with high-quality education in developing pupils spiritually, emotionally, physically, intellectually and linguistically. Pupils in Irish-medium education gain the added value of competence in two languages.

The Irish-medium education sector recognises current demographics and is willing to co-operate with other sectors, with a view to sharing facilities to maximise valuable resources. Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta — the Council for Irish-Medium Education — has a strategic plan for the development of the sector through­out Northern Ireland. At the moment, a review arising from the Bain Report is under way to decide how the growth of the sector can be best facilitated in the future.

The amazing development of Irish-medium education has meant that estates provision has lagged far behind growth. Almost half of all Irish-medium primary schools are in accommodation that meets health and safety standards but is not fit for purpose. The idea of the club bank is to address that gap in order that newly established schools can access accommodation that is fit for purpose, thus enabling them to meet the threshold for capital recognition.

On the operation of the scheme, the Department of Education will approve the interest rates applicable to the scheme, the staging of interest payments and the agreement with the bank. The risks for the loans are attributed to Iontaobhas na Gaelscolaíochta — the Trust Fund for Irish-Medium Education — and Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta, not to the Department or the taxpayer. Should the scheme go ahead, Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta would provide the Department with all requested documentation monthly. The Department of Education has provided an initial lump sum to allow Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta and Iontaobhas na Gaelscolaíochta to start the club bank by drawing loans from a bank that are based on the lump sum acting as collateral. However, the money will be used only as a guarantee to the bank. It will not be spent, and it will eventually be returned to the Department. The scheme is intended to last only —

The Member’s time is almost up.

Go raibh míle maith agat.

The Alliance Party opposes the motion. It is regrettable that a petition of concern has to be tabled on what is essentially private Members’ business. The motion is the latest in a line of debates on the Irish language and Irish-medium education. Most people looking in from the outside will wonder about the Assembly’s sense of priorities.

There are so many issues to discuss and challenges to face, yet the Assembly is still debating the Irish language. There are major challenges in education — for example, the future of post-primary education and sustainable schools. Those are much broader challenges than the one outlined in the motion, but there has been no debate on the fundamental principles that underlie the future of education. Instead, Members debate the small side issues.

Equally, the Minister must articulate the wider range of problems faced by the education system in Northern Ireland. The Alliance Party has some concerns that the Programme for Government refers only to the Irish-medium sector and not to others — most notably the integrated-education sector. I hope that the Minister will address that when she speaks.

As set out by its proposer, the motion does not add up; it opposes the club-bank approach, but Miss McIlveen tried to set out some practical difficulties and concerns that she had with the scheme. I do not know whether that was a front for her overall opposition to the scheme, or whether those concerns were genuine. Asking for a review, or a more detailed study, of the club-bank approach — to see whether it offers a positive way forward and delivers results — would have been a more constructive approach.

The club-bank system has considerable merits. The Alliance Party is not wedded to any particular method of funding the education system. If innovative approaches can be found, they are worthy of consideration. The club-bank system is a relatively low-cost option for Government to facilitate choice in the education system. Reference has already been made to integrated education, and it is worth highlighting the valuable role of the club-bank approach in the expansion of integrated education in Northern Ireland. I pay particular tribute to the Integrated Education Fund and its work. Often, the Government have had a narrow mindset about defending the status quo in communities and not recognising the demand for an integrated approach to education from parents. Money made available by the IEF has meant that those wishes are respected and enabled integrated schools to come into existence and prove their viability and overall sustainability to communities.

I am aware of the sustainability problems across our education system due to the falling rolls in the school estate, which have resulted in over 50,000 empty school places. In trying to seek a simplistic solution, the proposer of the motion makes a fundamental mistake by saying that those problems would disappear if all schools were controlled. Members must look at the wider context of area planning, collaboration between schools and sharing. The Irish-medium sector can fit into the broader perspec­tive of the way forward for education.

It is important to recognise the demand for Irish-medium education — it is not my preference but I respect that it is for others. A respect for choice and diversity is a fundamental element of a shared future. Integrated education has proven to be the more sustain­able option, although I have an open mind about whether Irish-medium schools are sustainable in certain localities of Northern Ireland. However, they are certainly part of the future provision of education and, as long as they are placed in the firm context of a sustainable schools policy, which the Department has still not produced, are something that we can celebrate as part of our cultural heritage and the future of education in Northern Ireland. The Alliance Party opposes the motion.

I believe in a shared future. Rather than supporting the segregated system that exists at present, we should seek to break down segregation and create a truly integrated single system of education in Northern Ireland. Dominic Bradley told the story of Irish-medium education, some aspects of which I want to discuss. A voluntary trust fund for Irish-medium education similar to the Integrated Education Fund was mentioned — I understand that it is called Iontaobhas na Gaelscolaíochta.

I am indebted to our colleague Dominic Bradley for that pronunciation, because I had no idea how to pronounce it. However, an interesting point about that organisation is that it already receives funding from the Department of Education. I asked who sat on the board of the organisation and, lo and behold, it emerged that its chairperson — who was appointed by the Department of Education — is Seán Maguire. He is also the editor of the ‘North Belfast News’ and is chairperson — or at least he is one of the leading figures — of Sinn Féin in North Belfast. Therefore, I started to understand why Caitríona Ruane is possibly so enthusiastic and committed to the proposal.

A couple of weeks ago, our colleague Barry McElduff and I were discussing the Irish language on Radio Ulster’s ‘The Stephen Nolan Show’. The mother of a child in a school in west Belfast — the name of which I will not attempt to pronounce, but it translates as the school of the skylark — phoned in. I said that the skylark was a pseudonym used by Bobby Sands and that the school was holding up Bobby Sands — a convicted terrorist — as a good role model for children. At that point, the lady went apoplectic and would not undertake to translate the name of the school into English. Thankfully, Barry McElduff did translate it into English, but he did not concede the point that it was so named in honour of Bobby Sands.

The next stage of my story takes us down to Newry — an area not unknown to Dominic Bradley — and the recent visit to the Irish-medium school there by Conor Murphy who was presenting Irish-language versions of the life of Bobby Sands to the schoolchildren. Again, Bobby Sands was being held up as a role model for children. Members should begin to get the story that helps to explain why Caitríona Ruane — whom I see has left the Chamber — is so enthusiastic about Irish-medium education.

During a debate on 6 November 2007, my colleague Michelle McIlveen referred to an article in a Rathfriland newspaper — ‘The Outlook’— in which a hunger striker Laurence McKeown was commenting on the visit to the Irish-medium school in Newry by Conor Murphy. He said that many teachers in Irish-medium schools — even some principals — are former prisoners. When Michelle McIlveen repeated that in the Chamber, Barry McElduff got upset. He said that she was endangering the lives of those teachers by saying that, but she was merely repeating what Laurence McKeown had said. Instead of dealing with the issue —

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Would it not be in order for Mr McCausland to address the motion? He has not done that yet, and he has been speaking for three and a half minutes.

I note the Member’s concern. I ask Mr McCausland to carry on; I am sure that he will get to the motion.

The motion is about Irish-medium education, and I think that I have spoken about that. For instance, when I spoke about the role of Sinn Féin, I was dealing with Irish-medium education, and I will continue to do so. I have commented on the fact that so many teachers and principals in that sector are former prisoners. One of the difficulties that many unionists have with Irish-medium education is that it is a closed sector — unionists do not know much about it. However, the veil drops occasionally.

We are indebted to some unnamed person — who is unknown to me — who contributes to discussions on a local website. He picked up on the thread from someone who seemed to be a dissident republican or supporter of republican Sinn Féin and provided some interesting insights into the Irish-medium sector in Londonderry. He told, in great detail, the story of a maintained school that used to have an Irish-medium unit, and he explained how Sinn Féin was working actively within it. He detailed all the meetings and the names of the people involved.

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Is it appropriate for a Member in the Chamber to quote from an unnamed source on an unnamed website, because the references that he is making cannot be corroborated or referred to by any other Member? [Interruption.]

If Mr Storey believes everything that he reads on a website he is in for a bad day. The world will be flat before he leaves the Chamber.

It would be useful if the Member would clarify exactly what he is saying.

I am simply stating what I have become aware of through reading that website. I am now attempting to ask some questions. I have an answer to one question that I have posed; I will follow up that with more, and then we will be able to illicit the truth. The website makes it clear why Caitríona Ruane is so enthusiastic about Irish-medium schools.

The Member’s time is up. Unlike interventions, no extra time is provided for a point of order.

Go raibh míle maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Mar urlabhraí Shinn Féin ar son na teanga, éirím le cupla focal a rá in éadan an rúin seo. Cuireann sé brón orm amannaí go bhfuil an oiread sin daoine chomh géar, chomh láidir, is chomh nimhneach in éadan na teanga uaisle áilne seo. I declare an interest, a mhacasamhail Dominic anseo, as a founder member of Naíscoil Neachtain in Dungiven, which I am glad to mention again. I am also a trustee of the school.

Yet again, a motion is before the House that reveals a fundamental antipathy to the Irish language, despite the protestations of the proposer. Yet again, as was the case with David McNarry’s recent motion, the proposer of the motion is a person with a lovely Gaelic surname: McIlveen. Ironically, one of the great champions of the Irish language in Belfast is a young man of that name, although he uses the original Gaelic spelling — Mac Ghiolla Bhéin — which, translated into English means “the son of the follower”, or “the disciple”, or “the servant of Ben”. Ben was most likely an early Christian Gaelic holy man or, perhaps, a holy woman.

The Irish-medium education sector now comprises 65 schools here, educating up to 5,000 pupils at nursery, primary and secondary level. However, as with the integrated-education movement, instead of being complimented and encouraged for what is positive and laudable in its campaign, it continues to be undermined and discouraged by people who see it only through political eyes. I expect that the integrated-education movement will take some comfort from the fact that the naysayers have now a target in Irish-medium education at which they can launch themselves more warmly and enthusiastically.

The indigenous language of any land is the jewel in its crown. The Irish language pervades our physical environment — our family surnames, towns, townlands, rivers, streams, hills and glens. It is important that we, the Irish people, maintain and develop the cultural and spiritual character that inspired the creation and evolution of that lovely language.

Sinn Féin fully supports the Irish-medium education sector.

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Others in the House were much exercised earlier when my colleague Nelson McCausland was accused of not addressing the motion. When does the Member propose to deal with club banking, instead of talking about Dungiven and giving a host of Irish lessons?

Order. I hope that the Member will address the motion.

I am simply outlining how important it is that the Irish language be supported by the club-bank system and that the two schools that are currently eligible receive funding from it as soon as possible.

Sinn Féin fully supports the Irish-medium education sector, and wants to see it develop and grow. Sinn Féin also wants to see it develop and grow outside of the Catholic, nationalist community.

Over the centuries, the Irish language has proved itself impervious to political, religious and other malign influences.

I thank the Member for giving way. Is he aware that, during the establishment of the national schools in Ireland in the late nineteenth century, Irish-speaking children were made to wear an bata scoir — a tally stick — around the neck? Each time a child spoke Irish, a notch was cut in the tally stick, and the child was later punished for each notch. Does the Member agree that the motion is the modern-day tally stick, in so far as it wishes to punish children with substandard facilities just because they are learning through the medium of Irish?

I thank Mr Bradley for his intervention, which shows that history evolves and changes. We are now in a new cycle, and the Irish language is fighting back.

However, regardless of the intervention, I hope that Irish-medium schools will become eligible for club-bank loans. No one complained about it until now, and it is regrettable that the motion was proposed. I look forward to the day when every facet of our cultural life here can be shared, encouraged and promoted by us all.

I am glad that the Minister acknowledged my small contribution of wearing my orange tie. Out of small acorns great oak trees grow. Go raibh maith agat.

It is pleasant to welcome the Minister of Education to the Chamber, after being kept informed of her movements by Mr Butler. I am really pleased to see her here and to have a nice chat with her about this important issue.

In no way am I against the Irish language. When I was in the west coast of Scotland for my summer holidays, I came across the McCrea clan, and a lot of the information about the clan was written in Scottish Gaelic or whatever. Neither have I a problem with people speaking in Irish.

It is important to have a real debate. My concern with club banks is that we are putting the cart before the horse. It is fundamentally wrong to push ahead with an agenda for the Irish language when there is no consensus that that should be done. It is strategically flawed. I am not against the language, but I am absolutely against its being used as a political tool.

Francie Brolly spoke most eloquently about the language and Sinn Féin’s support for it, and that is OK. However, instead of being supported, the language has been hijacked. The Irish language has been taken over and the debate is put forward in terms that make it difficult for anybody to support. One does try to keep an open mind on those matters, look forward and determine the benefits of giving preferential treatment to an Irish-language exercise through the club-bank system. Does it prepare our young people for the future, and does it add anything to it?

Even if those arrangements can be made in primary schools, what happens in the post-primary sector? There is a shortage of teachers in that sector, and it would be quite awkward. However, even if that could be sorted out — and I have heard the Minister say that people could be brought from elsewhere — what happens to the tertiary sector? We are keen to get 50% or more of our young people into that. Where will we get the lecturers?

Then what happens after that in R&D? How much of the world’s research and development is conducted in English and how much in Irish? At that stage, the question must be asked: does it really stack up? The potential problems of such a move must be considered.

I am committed to a shared future, and it is important that we find a way to work together and respect differences. However, I have a bit of a problem with a language that requires 100% immersion. How does one integrate or work with people who speak a completely different language? That seems to be incompatible. In the South, there has been a direction — although maybe it has changed — that even Irish-medium schools must also teach English from an early age. Even there, it is not 100% immersion.

On a serious, non-political point, our education system is in danger of getting into problems by “salami slicing”. For example, and to show that there are a breadth of things going wrong and demonstrate the difficulty of singling out a particular issue, a primary school in Mallusk is threatened with closure because a Brethren school is going to be set up. I understand absolutely that the Brethren have issues of their own, but there is a knock-on effect.

Similarly, I have spoken to Muslims who want to open a school. There are a range of people, such as the Muslims, the Chinese and the Poles, whom one could attempt to deal with, but one cannot deal with them all. Before moving to fund such ideas, Members must properly debate the issues. Respectfully, the UUP supports the motion. However, I am sure that we will return to the issue at another time, and I look forward to a friendly and frank engagement.

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. This debate has been prompted by opposition to plans to introduce a loan arrangement for the provision of accommodation for approved Irish-medium schools. Such an arrangement has existed in the integrated sector for many years. At the outset, I should say that a loan scheme for the Irish-medium sector is still under discussion. It is important that such a scheme be considered carefully — not least because of the planned changes to the future administration of education and improved strategic planning of the estate.

Nevertheless, the focus to which Irish-medium education has been subjected in the Assembly should be of concern. More than 40 questions have been asked by the other side of the House — 6·5% of all education questions — about a sector that accounts for approx­imately 3,750 children, or 1·1% of the school population. We have had only two petitions of concern in the House. What were they about? Irish-medium education. We have had 0·7% — I repeat, 0·7% —

Will the Minister give way?

No, I will not give way. We have had 0·7% of the Budget spent on Irish-medium education. What does that say to us? The Irish language is part of our national heritage. It should be celebrated and treasured, not insulted in an attempt to fan the flames of prejudice and hatred.

The Good Friday Agreement included a commitment to:

“take resolute action to promote the language … seek to remove, where possible, restrictions which would discourage or work against the maintenance or development of the language”.

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Is it in order for the Minister to allege that the petition of concern in relation to Mr McNarry’s motion on 9 October referred to the Irish-medium sector when it had nothing at all to do with education? Obviously, in relation to the petition of concern, the Minister is giving wrong information to the House.

A petition of concern has been presented to me, and it has already been dealt with. The Minister should continue.

Go raibh maith agat. The Good Friday Agreement included a commitment to:

“take resolute action to promote the language … seek to remove, where possible, restrictions which would discourage or work against the maintenance or development of the language”.

The European Charter for Regional or Minority Lang­uages contains a commitment to education in Irish where numbers are considered sufficient. There is a statutory duty to encourage and facilitate the development of Irish-medium and integrated education, and I intend to do just that.

We are in a new era in which people expect to see leadership from their politicians. I visited Mount Vernon this morning to discuss the issues faced by the community there — issues that are faced by communities in other parts of the North. It is important that the Assembly be inclusive and show leadership to those communities to help to improve their lives, step by step. That is a small step but, in a small way, I am trying to show leadership, and I ask Members to join me in that.

It is a shame to hear a young woman, such as Michelle McIlveen, attacking the Irish language and trying to justify her attack by saying at the outset that that is not what she is doing. I would much prefer to see innovative thinking from a young woman in the DUP — or in any party — rather than tired, narrow-minded thinking or obsessions with the Irish language.

We must move forward. My colleague Francie Brolly mentioned the Irish-medium community. I ask Members to consider for one moment the effect that this debate will have on that community and on the children who might be listening to parts of it. It is not fair.

I congratulate the Irish-medium sector for the work that it is doing; I want to distance myself from the attacks on it and to say that I am sorry that there has been such a constant attack on its chosen form of education. I would like to reassure those people —

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. In your capacity as Speaker, can you help the House by distinguishing whether this speech is being made by someone acting as a Minister or a Member —

Order. That is not an appropriate point of order.

I would like to reassure those people that they can expect fair play, as will everyone in the education sector. I would also like to reassure them that, in my role as Minister, I have been out and about in many communities, and I have visited many schools that are predominately Protestant. The generosity of spirit shown by people there on many issues, including the Irish language, is in stark contrast to that shown by Michelle McIlveen and Nelson McCausland today. Those people are ashamed about such attacks and the type of narrow mindedness that has been shown today, and they want to distance themselves from that.

Beidh Comhaltaí i ndiaidh ráiteas agus tuairimí a chluinstin faoi scéim chlub bainc, agus creidim go mbeadh sé ina chuidiú ag Comhaltaí míniú a fáil ar cad é atá i gceist leis an scéim agus an dóigh a n-oibríonn sí san earnáil imeasctha.

Members will have heard comments and concerns expressed about a club-bank scheme, and it would be useful if I explain briefly what that is and how it operates for the integrated sector. It is referred to as a club bank simply because it is an agreement among three banks, NICIE and the Integrated Education Fund. The agreement allows the integrated sector to place money on deposit against which it can borrow sums to finance the capital cost of new grant-maintained integrated schools. That can be done only for schools for which a statutory development proposal has been published, has been the subject of consultation, and which has been conditionally approved by the Department of Education. It cannot be used for schools that are funded independently.

The publication of a development proposal is required when there is a proposal for a school to be established, be closed or to undergo a significant change that would alter its character or size. The development proposal gives the school recognition for funding. The club bank is a means of delivering accommodation for integrated schools without capital funding from the Department of Education at the outset.

In agreeing to the use of club-bank arrangements in the mid-1990s, the Department’s objective was to reduce the risk of loss in providing public funding for a new school during its early years, until it had proven its enrolment viability. Thus, a newly established school that had been approved for funding by the Department would receive recurrent funding only to cover costs such as teachers’ salaries, conditional on meeting the intake requirements. That school would be eligible for capital funding if it had met the minimum intake requirements over a longer period of three years.

Those schools have traditionally been constructed with a core building and mobile classrooms, with further mobile classrooms being added over time, subject to the schools increasing in size.

The Department reimburses approved capital costs once the criteria are met. Once the reimbursement of approved capital expenditure is made, the club-bank arrangement does not provide any further funding for that particular school. The school trustees have to meet the costs of any further capital work, then retrospectively claim grant aid from the Department. Therefore, in the early years, the sector, rather than the Department, takes the risk in providing facilities through borrowing from the banks for capital works.

Tá roinnt blianta ó shin, moladh socrú den chineál seo d’earnáil na Gaeilge. Tuigim gurb é an rún a bhí ann ag an am nach mbeadh ach banc amháin i gceist in ionad trí cinn cionnas go rabhthar ag dream le scála níos lú iasachtaí.

A similar arrangement was proposed for the Irish-medium sector several years ago. I understand that, because of the anticipated smaller scale of loans, the intention was for only one bank to be involved, rather than three. It was envisaged that such a scheme would operate in a similar way to that in the integrated sector: the sector would borrow for the purposes of providing accommodation for a school that had itself been conditionally approved by the Department.

The work of the review of education administration includes the development of an area-based planning approach to the schools estate. In a period of significant changes to pupil numbers, that approach will help to offer a real solution to the issue of over-provision. Furthermore, it should bring greater consistency and equality to planning. It is proposed that the new education and skills authority will have a central role in the planning of the estate, within the policy framework and guidance provided by the Department.

The production of well-developed area-based plans could make club-bank arrangements redundant. In future, all school schemes that are considered necessary to meet expected needs in an area, and are supported through area-based planning, should be able to be considered for funding from the outset. That will require the education and skills authority to have access to robust information on anticipated needs for an area. The use of bank loans for a particular sector will be expected to diminish, and will most likely become unnecessary altogether.

There is an important question around how to address the accommodation needs of existing Irish-medium schools in the period before the education and skills authority is established. The issues are subject to consideration, and the position of individual schools will need to be considered on a case-by-case basis. Equality will be at the forefront in the making of those decisions, and statutory duties will be taken into account.

A club bank, therefore, is simply a means of addressing accommodation needs for recently established schools that have already been recognised for recurrent, but not capital, funding. As I have explained, there is a question over the future role of a club bank.

Although Members have focused on concerns about access to loan arrangements for Irish-medium schools, we have heard little from Members today — except snig­gering and bully-boy tactics — as to what funding arrange­ments should be used instead for recently estab­lished approved schools. All children are entitled —

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Is it in order for that sort of language to be used in the Chamber? My colleague and I have tried to be construc­tive during this debate. We have suggested — I do not know whether the Minister was present at that time — that the maintained sector and the Irish units that are contained —

Order. I have allowed the Member some liberty on his point of order. I remind all Members and the Minister that, in this House, as far as possible, they should temper their language.

On a further point of order, Mr Speaker. While the Minister is on her feet, some Members in the Chamber are continuously trying to shout down the other Members, which disrupts —

That is not an appropriate point of order. I understand that, from time to time, there are debates in the House that raise emotions. However, once again, I remind Members that they should be temperate and measured in what they say. [Interruption.]

Has the Member opposite finished making his point?

Order. The Minister has the Floor. [Interruption.]

I am taking no further points of order. I ask the Member to take his seat, and I am — [Interruption.]

I am taking no further points of order on this issue. The Minister may continue.

I will repeat my last sentence, as I do not know whether Members heard it.

Although Members have focused on concerns about access to loan arrangements for Irish-medium schools, we have heard little today as to what funding arrange­ments should be used instead for recently established approved schools and, indeed, for schools that are working out of Portakabins, of which there are many in the Irish-medium sector.

All children, regardless of creed, race, religious belief or political opinion, are entitled to learn in facilities that meet modern educational standards. An obvious alternative to borrowing would be to plan for capital funding for new schools from the outset. Is that what Members want to see? Those matters will be considered carefully in deciding how best to proceed, and in anticipation of an area-based planning approach.

I will not tolerate any sector’s being treated in a discriminatory or unfair manner. I will continue to take my equality duties as Minister of Education in the North of Ireland — Mar Aire Oideachais i dTuaisceart na hÉireann — very seriously. Go raibh maith agat.

Sometimes, I hear the comments of Members, and it is clear to me that they forget that they are in a debating Chamber. This is not a stroll down to the dry-cleaners to hear what everyone is saying. This is a debating Chamber, so let us have the debate; let us have the banter, but in a way that is fair. I do not accept the allegations made by the Minister that bully-boy tactics are being used. Those on the other side of the Chamber know well how parts of society operate with respect to bully-boy tactics.

Members know me to be someone who uses temperate language — someone who is always considerate and moderate in what he says. However, Members have made a number of contributions to which I must respond. I dissociate myself from the scurrilous comments that were made by the Minister and others, attacking Michelle McIlveen. I commend Miss McIlveen for stressing that her motion is not a sectarian attack on the Irish-medium sector. The motion simply highlights the problems that will emerge as a result of this policy, should it ever be implemented.

The policy is unfair, and it gives an unfair advantage to the Irish-medium sector. We have the figures: £33 million was given to the Irish-medium sector in the past five years. Obviously, one cannot argue that there has been discrimination. Surely, £33 million — [Interruption.]

I will not give way. I have 10 minutes, and I can assure Members that I will use them to the full.

Having given the Irish-medium sector £33 million, the Minister plans to give it additional moneys and an additional advantage.

My colleague Michelle McIlveen also made reference to area-based planning. It seems as though that concept, along with ‘Schools for the Future: A Policy for Sustain­able Schools’ and the Bain Report are to be torn up. Those matters are referred to; credence is paid to them in lip service, but they are not dealt with in reality.

Paul Butler was next to contribute. I am surprised and somewhat disappointed that he is not sitting in his usual place. Normally, he sits at the Minister’s side, like a mini-me of the Minister of Education. However, he has taken a seat at the back of the Chamber. He said that Miss McIlveen’s comments were an attack, dressed up. I have disposed of that allegation.

The DUP is not playing politics. The education of all our children, whether they attend an Irish-medium school, a controlled school, a maintained school — or, like my children, a Christian independent school that does not receive one penny from the Department — is too important to be the subject of political games.

If we have entered a new era — I say “if” because recent events have perhaps called that into question — let us see it in reality. Let us have a level playing field for all.

Paul Butler referred to growing evidence of the existence of substandard buildings in the Irish-medium sector. However, he did not refer to the substandard buildings that exist in the maintained sector, the controlled sector or the other sectors. It is all right for pupils in those schools to be in Portakabins. It is acceptable for schools such as Ballycastle High School, which is in my constituency, not to have had a newbuild since 1964. That is a controlled school, and, as such, it is in one of those sectors that can be ignored when it comes to giving financial and infrastructural assistance. Mr Butler also said that the scheme will educate children in the Irish-medium sector:

“without any risk to the public purse.”

One million pounds has been proposed for the scheme, and the breakdown of the additional bid that the Minister has submitted cites £3·5 million for 2008-09, £2·5 million for 2009-10, and another £2·5 million for 2010-11, of which some is for language enhancement for teachers in the Irish-medium schools. Obviously, Long Kesh did not provide enough Irish-language teaching, and that is the reason that their skills need enhancing.

[Interruption.]

You probably understand it better.

Moving on, I welcome Ken Robinson’s comments, and I always appreciate the wisdom that he brings to education matters, not only in the Chamber, but in the Committee for Education. He referred to the Irish-language units in the maintained sector. We must ask why there is a problem and a division. Why are people making a choice? I welcome his comments about the exclusivity of the Irish-medium sector and the dangers of division. He also referred to a shared future, but I will come back to that in a moment.

Dominic Bradley, who is not in the Chamber, spoke of rapid growth in the Irish-medium sector. I thought that he would say that such growth has taken place over the past five or 10 years, but, lo and behold, he said that it had occurred over the past 37 years. If we wait until the sector’s fiftieth birthday, we may have 5,000 children in the Irish-medium sector. Is that rapid growth? The Minister has told us that the Irish-medium sector represents the equivalent of 1·1% of the school population and 0·07% of the Budget. If Dominic Bradley deems that to be rapid growth, I hope that the economy grows faster than the Irish-medium sector, otherwise the Programme for Government will have no chance of surviving.

What can one say about Stephen Farry and the Alliance Party? He dealt with a small side issue. However, the one point that amazed me about his speech was that, probably for the first time in any of his interventions or contributions in the Chamber, he did not refer to the document ‘Research into the financial cost of the Northern Ireland divide’. That document is the bedtime reading of all Alliance Party Members. What does that document say about the divisions that exist in the education system in Northern Ireland? I will quote a part that Stephen may have missed last night:

“schools provision — greater collaboration across schools sectors and consolidation within the schools estate could result in savings”.

The document goes on to say that between £15·9 million and £79·6 million could be saved. Are we not getting to the heart of the issue for the Irish-medium, maintained and controlled sectors? Members must face up to the reality that our education system will cost an absolute fortune, as that document proves. What does the Minister do? She decides that money is of no consequence and that we can afford to dish out more for new schemes such as the club banks.

I must clarify for Mr Brolly, who needs to be given a lesson in Ulster-Scots — not Irish — history, and assure the House that the McIlveens, one of whom is on this side of Chamber, were Ulster Scots who arrived with the Hamiltons and the Montgomerys when they settled in 1606. That needs to be understood.

I welcome Mr McCausland’s comments, which were self-explanatory.

I will now deal with the Minister’s remarks and leave Basil McCrea alone for once. During an intervention that she made on another occasion when she addressed the House, the Minister quoted poetry to me. She also said that she was glad that I was not the Education Minister. I want to quote a little bit of poetry to her:

“As I was sitting in my chair, I knew the bottom was not there; nor legs, nor back, but I just sat, ignoring little things like that”.

That is what the Minister has done with regard to the financial arrangements for education, classroom assistants, and so on: she has continually ignored the facts. I support the motion.

That concludes the debate on the motion. I remind Members that the Question will be put as the first item of business on Monday 19 November 2007, on a cross-community basis.

Motion made:

That the Assembly do now adjourn. — [Mr Speaker.]