Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I might come in on that because I feel particularly passionately about that. If anything, we are going backwards on this and that is clear from the figures. I was lucky enough to go to an Irish-language school. That is the only reason I can speak Irish. At the time, I was the only person in the school who did not speak English or Irish at home. I spoke German at home. I came from a totally different background and it was completely unusual at the time. From my experience and speaking to others who speak multiple languages I know when one come from a multilingual household or background one finds it much easier to learn other languages. I am deeply concerned about the whole issue of the Irish language. Conradh na Gaelige has a policy on this which it would like to see implemented. I understand this was promised in the programme for Government and that Fianna Fáil promised it during the 2020 general election.

I feel so passionate about this particular subject, especially as someone who understands what it is like to come from a household that speaks another language. When I was in school they were concerned that I would not be able to speak English properly because I spoke German at home and Irish in school and they did not have the understanding yet that with English being everywhere, as it is, it would be my best language. I do not buy that we cannot bring people in. People who speak different languages at home have more of an ability and it is easier for us to learn an additional language. I really feel this is a scandal that is unfolding in front of our eyes. If we are serious about maintaining the Irish language at some kind of level, we need to look at education. If we are at this point already, it should be seen as our warning sign that we need to do everything that we can. The Minister mentioned Gaeltacht schools. Just last week, I tabled a Topical Issue on how ETB schools are treated differently to voluntary schools around Irish language medium education. ETB schools, of which the majority are Gaeltacht schools, do not get the same funding. They do not get the bilingual grant that the voluntary schools get. I put in a parliamentary question to make sure I was correct about ETB schools being majority Gaeltacht schools. Obviously those schools have extra challenges. Many are much smaller because of the local populations. This is a warning sign for us to really get to grips. I am not doing this in the sense of giving out here but we need to see this as our wake-up call and really focus on this. I know Conradh na Gaelige has done a huge amount of work on this. I am asking that we try and work with Conradh na Gaelige to make sure we turn the tide on this.