Mr. Tony Donohoe:

I thank the Deputy. I will make some general comments before inviting in my colleague, Dr. Power, who represents the group on the languages strategy implementation group. Generally, there are targets. There are targets in terms of leaving certificate attainment and the number of graduates coming out of higher education. In regard to the question around value added, when it comes to languages it is often a case of we do not know what we do not know. They are critical for our industrial strategy. In a Brexit context, most of our SME indigenous companies tend, or have tended, to be reliant on the UK in particular and English speaking markets. Owing to the trade diversification challenges, we will have to go out and look for much broader languages. Companies might purchase in their own language, but they sell in their customers' language. This is a key competitive advantage. It is sometimes difficult to quantify. We know that in call centres and, to an extent, in foreign direct investment, FDI, languages are in demand. Often, FDI companies tend to use their own global networks to recruit language specialists and native speakers.

In terms of our industrial strategy, it is a question of diversification of markets. We do have some graduate programmes. IBEC has a global graduates programme, as does Enterprise Ireland, where young graduates with language skills go out and develop new markets. Dr. Power may have more to say in terms of direction or targets.