Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their time and I thank Mr. Donohoe for his opening statement. I have a few questions, which I will try to get through as quickly as I can. As I have only 14 minutes, and I would like the opportunity to come back in again, I will keep my questions brief, but I hope that the witnesses contributions will be lengthy which, I am sure, will please anybody watching these proceedings.

In his opening statement, Mr. Donohoe referred to the importance of enhancing Ireland's pool of language skills from a comparatively low base and he referenced the ten-year strategy for foreign languages. I ask him to elaborate on the following. Have targets been set? Are they linked specifically to jobs and, if so, to what types of jobs are they linked? Enhancing a foreign language skills base is a good idea. I am not disputing that, but if the purpose of that is only to educate people for low-wage jobs in call centres, I would question that somewhat. Is it a value added thing? What is going on there? Have targets been set and specific languages identified and are they linked to particular jobs or growth areas? How does that work?