evidence: We asked Education Minister John O’Dowd some key questions about the new funding scheme – including what checks are made on schools’ spending. This was his response: [...] John O’Dowd: There has been an increase in funding to Irish-medium schools since last year. There are a number of reasons for this, including the growth in enrolments at Irish-medium schools – enrolments have risen by almost 6% over the past year compared to less than 0.5% across all other schools. [...] John O’Dowd: Whilst there was strong support for the principle of directing additional funds to support our most deprived pupils, this was matched by the very strong view that schools in receipt of additional money should be able to demonstrate its impact. I am fully supportive of this. Individual schools and their Boards of Governors will need to give careful consideration to how this additional money can best be used to address the individual needs of these children. There is a need to implement robust accountability mechanisms whilst still being mindful of the need not to overburden schools with additional bureaucracy.