Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Nuair a bhí mé sa chéad cathlán i nDún Uí Mhaolíosa i nGaillimh bhí Gaeilge réasúnta agam ach anois tá sí uafásach. Mar sin, caithfidh mé mo cheisteanna a chur as Béarla. Gabh mo leithscéal faoi sin. I am deeply embarrassed to have such a wonderful group here with such beautiful Irish and that I have to put my questions to them in English. I hope they will forgive me.

A number of issues have arisen during the presentations that are of grave concern to me. They relate to second level education, in particular the evolving junior certificate curriculum. In my previous career I was aware that teachers involved in teaching in Gaelscoileanna were seriously disadvantaged because of the lack of textbooks and curriculum support for the subjects they were teaching. I am open to correction, but I think the COGG has only three members of staff, Ms Ní Mhóráin and two others, even though it is providing support for the entire system. I can only say Ms Ní Mhóráin must be a miracle worker. In subjects such as mathematics, physics, biology and some of the digital subjects teachers have to use their own time to develop curriculum resources. It is my understanding teachers have no time allocated to them for the development of curriculum resources within the school. There is no standardised support for these teachers such as the availability of textbooks and so on. That is a huge issue that I would like the delegates to address.

The other issue that comes to mind concerns the role of the Teaching Council. In my day teachers had to take the ceardteastas Gaeilge, when we went to Carraroe where the immersion for a number of weeks was a tremendous experience. I loved every moment of it. That brings me to the question of why we are not doing this for every child in the country. There is an economic bar that prevents children from getting to Gaeltacht areas where they could develop the love of the language about which Deputy Ciarán Cannon was talking. It is the preserve of those who can afford to send their children there.

I am wondering why we do not fund that. Looking at parts of rural Ireland and particularly when we look at Gaeltacht areas, it is my understanding that many of those schools have spare resources and places. Why are we not providing some sort of scholarship which would allow children to go to the Gaeltacht and take their courses as Gaeilge and providing them with accommodation in Gaeltacht areas. That question is for the representatives from the Department of Education and Skills.

We are getting a new junior certificate and I have no doubt that this will lead onto some sort of changes in the senior cycle also. How will the new curriculum support native speakers and how can the Department of Education and Skills ensure that happens?

I could spend the day here talking about it. I am deeply embarrassed that my Gaeilge has gotten so poor that I am not able to address the witnesses in the beautiful language they speak. I thank the witnesses for coming here today.