Lobbying needed to protect COGG’s status
April 10, 2013
The Department of Education wish to integrate COGG with the NCCA (The National Council for Curriculum & Assessment) and to locate them in their offices. This would mean that it would be impossible for COGG to do their work through the medium of Irish as they’ve always done. There is a concern that the organisation would lose its independence and that it become simply a sub-division of the NCCA, in particular after the term of the current board is finished in 2014. This would result in a reduced influence from the all-Irish/ Gaeltacht sector on the organisation which would mean that there would be less input from the Irish-medium and Gaeltacht sector into the organisation regarding the sector’s needs. To ensure this doesn’t happen it is particularly important that COGG continues to receive direct funding and that it will be completely in charge of its own budget regarding its programme of work.
As part of the national strategy in promoting the 20 Year Strategy for the Irish Language Gaelscoileanna Teo. are co-operating with 63 other organisations to defend COGG. It would be of great benefit if you could raise the three issues below with your local TDs for the sake of COGG’s future and for the benefit of Irish-medium education:
1. That COGG’s budget should be ring fenced on a continuous basis (i.e. that the NCCA should have no power over COGG’s budget)
2. That COGG’s independence would be protected and that there is a need for a written agreement from the State regarding this (COGG’s board should not be under the control of the NCCA’s board)
3. That COGG’s office could be a satellite of the NCCA office but that its staff should not be relocated to the NCCA’s offices.
Download the PDF here
More information regarding COGG is available at www.cogg.ie
