Dáil debates

Tuesday, 4 October 2005

Report of Comptroller and Auditor General: Motion.

 

8:00 pm

Photo of Brian O'SheaBrian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)

I support the motion which calls on the Government to bring forward proposals to improve the system of public expenditure decision making to get better value for taxpayers' money and to tackle ongoing waste of public money. I want to focus on the expenditure on the Irish language in this context.

An Coimisinéir Teanga, Seán Ó Cuirreáin, in his inaugural report stated that during 2004 various public bodies had expressed their concerns to him as regards the lack of competency in Irish among their staff. An tUasal Ó Cuirreáin went on to state that the widespread lack of fluency in the language among so many public sector employees was of no little concern to him, especially in the light of the investment that had been made in the teaching of Irish and in the country's educational system. He says that hundreds of millions of euro are being invested, perhaps as much as €500 million annually in the teaching of Irish in the educational system, in line with English and other subjects. It is estimated, he says, that almost 1,500 hours of tuition in the language is provided to school pupils over a period of 13 years from the first day of primary school to the end of second level.

He comes to the kernel of the issue when he says this clearly raises the question as to whether the State is getting value for money from this investment, if it is true that so many are getting through the educational system without achieving a reasonable command of the Irish language — even students who succeed in getting a high grade in Irish in the final examination. An tUasal Ó Cuirreáin believes there is an urgent need for a comprehensive impartial review of every aspect of learning and teaching Irish in the education system. There is far more to it, however, than just a review of the education system. The fundamental flaw of State policy is the absence of a clear and attainable objective as regards learning the language, and more importantly, using it in an environment outside the school. There is widespread soft goodwill and support for the Irish language, but there is also apathy and even hostility towards it.

Too many people are not prepared to engage in any meaningful way with the language and salve their consciences by not questioning the status quo. Seán Ó Cuirreáin is right in saying there must be an urgent root and branch review of the education system, but there must be a clear context for it. It does not matter what happens in schools or colleges if there is not a universal sense of ownership of the Irish language among the people and an appreciation that it belongs to everyone and is a national treasure from a cultural heritage and responsibility viewpoint. Not only is there considerable money being spent on the language in the education system, but the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs will provide €91 million for Irish and the Gaeltacht this year. It is reported that the number of Irish speakers in the Gaeltacht has collapsed from 250,000 to 20,000 since the setting up of the State.

The recent report of An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta also gives cause for concern. It found that 54% of children in Gaeltacht schools use Irish as their usual form of communication, 35% speak more English than Irish, 15% speak mostly English and 4% speak English only. The real question is about not how much is being spent on the language, but how effectively and efficiently we spend it. Between 600 and 700 Departments and State agencies will come under the provisions of the Official Languages Act. This was enacted without any real costing being carried out as regards its full implementation. This is not the way to develop cost-effective policies. We are losing the war as regards the revival of the Irish language and we cannot allow this to continue. The Government needs to urgently decide what our attainable objective is as regards the place of the language in our community and how we can effectively and efficiently deploy resources to achieve it. There must be appropriate mechanisms to monitor progress and adapt where programmes are not working out. Wishing matters to be all right on the night in the face of decline is not good enough.

I have no real optimism that anything will be done by this Government. It has been in office since 1997 and matters continue to get worse in the context of the language. We must look at this area if we are not to lose this national treasure. I am afraid the Government is caught in a time warp, trotting out policies that belong to another age, which did not even work then.

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