Bel Nabulele:

I will go first as my microphone is on. To address Senator Ruane's last point on barriers to a more diverse teaching force, I have a quote to hand on which I will expand. On diversity in the teaching course, Irish is mandatory to become a teacher, which puts students of colour at a disadvantage. I am 16 and have not been to college but as far as I know, some level of Irish is mandatory if someone wants to become a teacher. I do not know. Obviously, if someone was not born here or if English is not his or her first language, it can be difficult to pick it up. From what I have seen, this is one of the main reasons we are not seeing a more diverse population of teachers. I do not know whether my colleagues have any additional comments.