Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The reason I raise the point is that while I accept that the Department of Education and Skills has a good deal to do, in presentations made to us through the colleges it has been indicated that students do not necessarily understand the importance of having a language. It is not always the case that the skills are not provided, but the message has to go out that they need to acquire them because that is the key. It would be useful if we could use the Action Plan for Jobs as an opportunity to highlight the issue again. The options are available, through various arms of the Department of Education and Skills, but they are not always fully utilised. We need to get the message across to those coming through college that they need to have a language. It goes back to second level school-----