Ms Meri Huws:

There are different levels, but almost all schoolchildren will have some experience of the Welsh language. It varies from school to school to some extent. Many will go through the Welsh-medium education, but there are different grades in different areas. I will be happy to send the latest information to the Deputy.

Census figures show growth among young people and in geographic areas where traditionally the language did not exist in the past century. There has been growth in Cardiff, the main city, and places like Swansea but there has been a diminution in the traditional heartlands in the west. This is a measure of change, rather than success or failure. It is a challenge and we must work with these figures.

Other measures are more qualitative and it is difficult to measure things in terms of levels of awareness. I have worked in the language sphere for many years - officially for the past three years but prior to that in the realm of the Welsh Language Board. The aim is to increase the level of awareness that Wales is a bilingual nation among employers and organisations. For example, next week, at the Welsh agricultural winter fair, we will give a presentation on the use of bilingual branding on food and drink in Wales. The growth in awareness is somewhat imperceptible but it exists.

In terms of inter-generational activity, most project-based promotional work occurs within the Welsh Government and this has been the case for the past three years, since the establishment of the commissioner's office. There was a division of roles - the statutory regulatory role went to the commissioner and the promotional role went to the Welsh Government. The Twf scheme, a well-established programme, encourages young parents to speak Welsh. Under the Twf scheme young mothers are congratulated around the point of birth on bringing a young Welsh person into the world and bilingualism is encouraged. Some soft projects emanate from the Welsh Government and, alongside statutory measures, have an impact on the qualitative experience of being in Wales.

Regarding road signs, I do not think we have figures on casualties and fatalities. The road sign debate has persisted since my early teens and that period was a long time ago. We have moved towards bilingual road signs and safety concerns are raised occasionally but there is no evidence that it leads to higher casualties than in any other bilingual country. As an organisation, we recently re-published our guidelines on bilingual design. I will send a copy of this to the committee as it may interest the members to see how we create safe bilingual signage and brands.

Questions on funding levels have been asked of the Welsh Government recently. I have an annual budget of £3.6 million but all language budgets in Wales are facing cuts. I will happily provide the committee with the latest figures released by the Welsh Government on funding the Welsh Language Commission and Welsh language activity generally as they may be useful.

I do not believe I met the Minister previously but I would be very happy to meet any Irish Ministers who might find such a meeting useful. I know that a meeting took place previously with the First Minister of Wales.

An interesting question was asked on the general health of the Welsh language and, to some extent, my answer depends on the day of the week. These are challenging times for minority languages in a globalised world where majority languages dominate.

Increasingly, we have a move in Wales towards thinking about being a country in which people are bilingual which, in terms of policy development, would have implications for means of operation and service delivery. Over time - I do not want to be too positive about this - it has become a question not of why we are doing this but of how we do it. The one area in which I have seen this very significant change is health and social care, in which a general level of awareness has emerged among practitioners and providers of health and social care services that communication through the medium of Welsh is not just a fad but actually a clinical requirement. It is coming to be understood that delivery through both English and Welsh, on the basis of an active offer instead of the patient having to demand it, is part of a good solid health service. We are seeing significant change in some very important areas, but there are still huge challenges and that posed by the workforce is one of our biggest. How do we ensure young people coming through the Welsh-medium education system will flow out into the workforce and that they will not see the Welsh language just as a subject they have to study but as a skill for the future? There is a real challenge in the way we teach Welsh at both second and third level.