Mr. David Duffy:

I thank the Senator for his question. It is very interesting. There are a few aspects to it. The first relates to equality of opportunities for all, which is very important. We want to make sure Irish is a living oral language. If we are to do that, we must promote the language to all. A real danger arises from the absence of a foundation level course. Students who would traditionally have done foundation level in Irish and who would have had some meaningful exposure to the language will now not have that exposure. They will instead be in an ordinary level group and struggling to swim. Foundation level is important.

The oral aspects of the language are crucial if we are going to promote it to everybody. As John has referred to, the proposed change from 40% to 35% sends a very serious, symbolic and negative message. While it depended on the school to a degree, an oral examination used to be a possible part of the junior certificate Irish examinations. It no longer counts for any marks for junior certificate Irish, although it does count as part of a classroom-based assessment. That does not form part of the junior certificate issued by the State. That sends a very poor message.

The Senator quite rightly mentioned students who can access Irish language courses in the Gaeltacht. He mentioned he was on such a course himself. Similar language exchanges are available to study French, German and so on abroad. In the context of equal opportunities, such courses are realistically only available to families who can pay for them. Extensive scholarships might go some way towards levelling the playing field. If we want Irish to be a spoken language promoted and available to all, we need to ensure a significant oral component and that a foundation level course is available so that everybody can have access.