Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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We are meandering towards a conclusion. I have two final points. The first is an observation that when the Professor is giving his opinion he is not afraid to shoot from the hip, which is really refreshing. We all need to be challenged, and governments certainly need to be challenged. However, there is a very current and hot topic issue at the moment relating to teacher career leave. In my opinion, the teachers who get career leave come back much more informed and experienced. Without opening up the hornets' nest around that, is there a potential pathway for teachers who want to go to Brussels? I am thinking about those who teach history, geography, Spanish and French. There are a lot of Irish teachers with expertise who are spread all over the world, be it in Shanghai, Beijing, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah, Qatar, Oman, Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Teachers are going to continue going to these places. I was a teacher and I certainly would not be critical of them. As a nation, we go abroad to broaden our minds. Is there an option for teachers who want to take a career break to go to Brussels and bring all that knowledge back into the classroom and into their communities? Is there an opportunity there for enrichment?

I was in Prague recently with Irish translators and interpreters, and the full interpretation suite as Gaeilge. It was great to open up the monitor and see Gaeilge on a par with Italian, French and German. It is great to have that expertise there. I commend all the people out there. They are doing a massive job. It is also a highly skilled job. For students from Ireland with Gaeilge who are looking at pathways, I presume it is the usual drill for interpreters and translators of having to have three languages. Now, however, Irish is one of them. They can tick the Irish and English box and they just need a third language. Can Professor O'Brennan just confirm that for people who are listening in? I would be interested in his thoughts on those two points.