Ms Máirín Ní Chéileachair:

I come from a sector in the education system where the concept of outside evaluation is quite foreign at primary level. Primary teachers are constantly assessing their students by different mechanisms and means as they go along. The structure at post-primary level is very different. On the Gaeilge, Peig is much maligned. If that book was published today, it would be hailed as an amazing social history and it would probably hit No. 1 on the bestseller list, but I will never know. It is possible to achieve a very high grade in leaving certificate Irish without having the capacity to speak the language, which I think is ludicrous.

The ability of students to communicate in whatever language they are learning, at whatever level of the school system, should be paramount. That is a skill we should be teaching our students and pupils before we teach them about literature and poetry. The ability to use a language as a living language should be our priority. This can be looked at on a continuous basis through the use of milestones, as we are doing at primary level with the primary language curriculum, which is a learning objectives based curriculum rather than a content objectives based curriculum. This is the proposed way forward at primary level as set out in the NCCA framework, which is out for consultation at the moment. We could leave Peig and her compatriots aside for a little while and look at giving children a love of their language from a cultural, heritage and historical point of view. We are welcoming people with many other languages into our country. We should be doing our utmost to ensure that we maintain our native language at all costs.