Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 83:

In page 33, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following: “(5) (a) An tÚdarás shall, no later than one year from the enactment of this Act, and following consultation with staff and students of institutions, Foras na Gaeilge, Údarás na Gaeltachta, An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta, Gaeloideachas, Tuismitheoirí na Gaeltachta, Conradh na Gaeilge, and the Irish speaking community nationwide, provide a report to the Minister on the provision of higher education through the medium of Irish and the role of higher education in promoting the use of the Irish language.

(b) The report referred to in paragraph (a) shall—

(i) analyse the existing context of Irish medium higher education across disciplines and propose concrete recommendations for increasing the provision of higher education through Irish in all disciplines,

(ii) outline a strategy for ensuring no student undertaking secondary education through the medium of Irish shall be forced to switch to English-medium education upon entry to higher education, regardless of chosen discipline, from 31 December 2030,

(iii) propose measures to attract prospective students to undertake their higher education through the medium of Irish, regardless of chosen discipline,

(iv) propose recommendations for supporting the provision of high quality and up to date textbooks and resources in the Irish language to ensure students of Irish medium higher education are not placed at a disadvantage,

(v) examine ways in which the higher education system could better support the Gaeltacht in economic, social and cultural terms,

(vi) examine the feasibility, merit and potential impact of pursuing the following options, individually or in combination, for developing Irish medium higher education opportunities, making use of existing infrastructure and institutions where possible:

(I) establishing a dedicated multi-disciplinary Irish medium university or institution of higher education, possibly involving a campus location or locations in the Gaeltacht;

(II) establishing a dedicated Irish medium education college for primary and post-primary teachers, in line with recommendation 3 of the Comprehensive Linguistic Study of 2007, possibly involving a campus location or locations in the Gaeltacht;

(III) developing an inter-institutional network for Irish medium third level education through cooperation between existing institutions, with a view to increasing provision of, access to and participation in Irish medium higher level education;

(IV) following the supported distance and open learning model used by Open University to create an accessible and dynamic Irish medium higher education experience;

(V) establishing a criteria for “bilingual university or institution” status, and supporting existing institutions to achieve this status by providing high quality and multi-disciplinary opportunities for education through the medium of Irish;

(VI) ensuring all higher level institutions provide educational opportunities through the medium of Irish so that all disciplines are catered to; and

(VII) developing the provision of Irish medium education at existing institutions of higher education to deliver upon the goal set out in subparagraph (ii), and the goal set out under section 18C(3)(b) of the Official Languages Act 2003.

(c) The Minister shall, no later than one year after receiving the report referred to in paragraph (a), publish a dedicated policy for developing the use of Irish in higher education.

(d) The report referred to in paragraph (a) shall be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas, and the Joint Oireachtas Committee responsible for the Irish language, on the same day as it is provided to the Minister.”.