Ms Anna Ní Ghallchóir:

The Deputy may realise the Irish curriculum has changed considerably since 2012. The emphasis is now on communication rather than literature which was the case in former times.

I agree with the Deputy in his point about the Gaeltacht. I am not saying that without it there would be no point in learning Irish, but it functions as a resource for those who want to return to Irish spoken in a natural context. That is also happening outside the Gaeltacht, but if there was no Gaeltacht, we would have to rethink everything. I agree totally that immersion is a very important aspect of this issue.