Mr. Donald Ewing:

I certainly agree with the benefits of multilingualism for the vast majority of people. The Dyslexia Association of Ireland is very pro-languages, pro-multilingualism and pro-Irish. However, when a severe learning difficulty that is neurologically based comes along, we have to take a different approach. In the same way we would take a different approach to general views around sport or exercise if someone had a physical disability, we need to take an alternative approach when something involves a disability with written language. The exemption is part of a continuum of arrangements that can be put in place to help children with dyslexia, including classroom support, additional support by often excellent special education teachers who can provide support in the classroom and sometimes withdrawing young people into small groups. For many children with very severe dyslexia, that is not sufficient. Even in an ideal situation, that is not sufficient. What we find is that insufficient progress is being made in both languages. The idea is that the exemption offers a pragmatic response and allows us to double the amount of concentrated effort in one language to get that to a level where a young person can access-----