Mr. Donald Ewing:

My understanding of the exemption is that it is an exemption from the compulsory study and is not an exclusion from Irish. Young people with the exemption, therefore, participate fully in Irish activities, especially oral, aural and cultural activities, at both primary and post-primary levels. Indeed, most parents to whom I speak in the Dyslexia Association of Ireland very much value the exemption and the lack of compulsoriness of the expectation of their child but very much want them to participate in the wider richness, which I believe is the word used by the Deputy quite a good deal, and it is certainly so. They participate, and can and should participate, in all of those activities, but there is not the requirement to participate in all of the mandatory reading and writing components, whether we agree or disagree about them as being a good way to assess Irish, which are the reality in order to pass junior cycle and leaving certificate exams.