Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Fáiltím roimh na finnéithe go léir. Tá brón orm nach bhfuil mé in ann leanacht ar aghaidh i nGaeilge mar bhí Gaeilge álainn agam nuair a bhí mé i bhfad níos óige ach tá sí beagnach caillte agam anois. I am quite concerned at some of the statistics that have been quoted and some of the observations that have been made over the last hour or so. The challenges we face in nurturing the language in Gaeltacht areas and outside the Gaeltacht are two very distinct challenges. They present two unique sets of circumstances and require a unique response to each. I do not think the one-size-fits-all policy will work and it certainly does not seem to be working at this point in time.

We must ask ourselves what our ambition is in areas outside the Gaeltacht. What, ultimately, is our ambition for our leaving certificate students emerging from post-primary education? My son, who is doing his leaving certificate at the moment, is one such individual. I can only speak from my own experience, which is that he and his first cousin, who lives about a mile down the road from him, despised the language until fourth year. However, after the junior certificate they both had the valuable opportunity to go to the Gaeltacht for a month in Leitir Móir. They came home changed individuals. Their whole attitude towards the language changed fundamentally in that month. I would not say they developed a love of it, but they developed a very strong appreciation of it. What happened in that one month in Leitir Móir that is not happening in our mainstream school system? That is one question we have to ask ourselves. How can we recreate the enthusiasm, the love and the passion for the language that is very much part of that summer Irish college system in our mainstream school system? It is not impossible to do that to some extent and we should aim to do exactly that in the future.

Ms Ní Mhóráin is concerned about the fact that 40% of marks are awarded for the oral Irish examination. To me, that is a good thing. My ultimate aim for my son is that when he leaves school in a few months’ time I could take him out to Carraroe and I could let him speak to a peer, an 18 year old man, who has the same interests in sport, music and so on, and they could have a fully-fledged conversation as Gaeilge without any issue. That will not happen because my son is not capable of doing that and neither are most of his contemporaries in Athenry, which is only 30 miles from Carraroe. I think 60% or 70% of marks should be awarded for spoken Irish in the leaving certificate. I would like to know why Ms Ní Mhóráin thinks that is a bad thing.

As Deputy McConalogue referred to already, I am concerned to hear that young native speakers of Irish are now in a minority in Gaeltacht schools. Is that the case?