Mr. Paul Caffrey:

The subject was heavily promoted in the late 1980s and early 1990s when German was perceived to be very important. I do not have details of the initiatives brought forward to promote it, but I can give the committee some statistics. In 2001 some 16.5% of all leaving certificate candidates sat a German paper. The equivalent figure for French at the time was 60%. French has traditionally been the dominant foreign language, primarily for historical reasons. After German reached the 16% level in 2001, it reduced to 15% in 2006 and 12% last year. French has witnessed a greater decline, in terms of the percentage of the total cohort taking it. Spanish and Italian have seen increases. Some German cultural institutions - the Goethe-Institut, the German Embassy and some German businesses - have launched a campaign to promote German as a language offering opportunities in second level education. They have produced a CD-ROM and a website, etc. Based on my experience of visiting schools, my feeling is that German, like other lesser taught languages, has had to fight its corner to some extent. It is rarely the default foreign language in a school. If German is still offered in a school, despite the pressure it faces as a subject, it is probably because it is well taught. I have seen some excellent teaching of German in schools. I appreciate the commitment of the Goethe-Institut and other bodies.

The languages offered in a school depend on the existing capacity within the school. A school cannot offer a language unless there is a teacher in it with the qualification and the ability to teach it. A far-seeing principal or board of management might decide to diversify the school's offering. A school that has traditionally taught French may decide to teach another language. The post-primary languages initiative helped many schools to introduce Spanish, Japanese, Russian or Italian. A certain degree of foresight is needed if a school is to take the initiative in this regard. It is difficult to judge these matters so far in advance. It should really be a matter for national policy. Each individual school chooses what to offer from the curriculum, which is a type of menu. This approach, whereby schools are given a high level of autonomy in deciding what to offer, is not going to change. The only way it could change would be if we decided we needed a certain capacity in certain languages. The BRICS countries have been mentioned in this regard. The only way the Department could ensure such a change of approach was implemented would be to provide ex quota teachers for these subjects and that is not going to happen in the current climate.