Mr. David Duffy:

I understand that a report on the roll-out of the T1 and T2 courses at junior cycle is likely to be completed quite soon. It will be interesting to see what it finds with regard to the positives and negatives and how the logistical issues can be overcome because that will be very important in the context of any changes at senior cycle. As a corollary of that, it is also important that we value the Irish language as a spoken language. In the examinations system, the percentage of marks we attach to a component of a subject is a measure of the value that we attach to it. It is therefore very important that we truly value the oral component of the language through the marks we attach to it. It is deeply unfortunate that the marks previously attached to the oral component of junior cycle Irish are no longer there. That says a lot. The other corollary that is very important relates to foundation level at junior cycle and concerns about the future of foundation level in the leaving certificate. It is very important for students who find Irish difficult but who want to study it that this option be available to them.