Dr. Alex Dowdall:

That was not our percentage. I think we released these figures to Deputy Ó Snodaigh recently through a parliamentary question. We asked the HEA to do an initial analysis on this. It was not an exercise it does on an ongoing basis, so it had to come at it fresh. Based on that analysis, for the 2023-24 academic year 420 students took courses delivered entirely through Irish. These will be courses in the Irish language or primary education, for instance, that would be taught entirely through Irish. Then, 2,625 took courses partly through Irish. That is largely driven by the education sector still. This includes the professional masters in education for primary school teaching, for instance, where we know that every student on that course has to take a component through Irish. Or it will be denominated entry into an arts, business or law degree, where a student studies law and Irish, business and Irish and so on. What we do not know are the numbers of students who may be taking Irish as part of their general entry undergraduate arts degree, for instance. We do not have those figures. Those are not figures that the HEA currently tracks. More granular again, which I think is what the Senator is asking, neither do we have the figures on the number of modules that are provided. I think this will be linked to the broader question of demand that we mentioned previously and the work the HEA hopes to do with the University of Galway on that.