Ms Jean O'Mahony:

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta. I think that is the core question here. To be clear, the third level sector is not directly analogous to the primary and post-primary sectors with respect to strategy. There have been, and are, Government strategies to increase the supply of certain skills into the labour market. We see part of that response with respect to planners and with other sectors, such as green energy to which Dr. Dowdall referred. The third level sector plays a really significant part in delivering those strategies. The end is a more skilled labour force. We need to be very clear on what the objective is with respect to increasing the number of students studying at third level through Irish or partially through Irish, or the broader population maintaining the competence and connection they have with Irish through second level. There are quite a number of policy questions in that alone. As Dr. Dowdall has referred to, there are a number of policies across government where the role of the Department of further and higher education is to support the achievement of the stated objective of that Department. As we mentioned, there is a policy coming forward about Irish-medium education, and a Government policy with respect to the availability of people who can independently speak Irish who can be recruited into the public sector. That is an objective which the third level sector has a role in meeting. We need to ask the right policy questions about what we are looking for from the third level sector, respecting that it is a diverse sector that is not directly analogous to our primary and post-primary sectors.

The question of how the third level sector responds to demand is at the core of Deputy Ó Snodaigh's point.

To date the emphasis in the Department's policy has been on supporting third level to meet that demand under its own direction and as independent institutions. I very much take the view of the committee that the course options available to people who want to study Irish at third level are not sufficient for demand. I take that point. To date, the policy has been to support independent institutions through financial means, as I have outlined several times, to meet the demand that exists. I absolutely take the point of the committee that its view is that it is not enough and that the numbers are low.