Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

Is mian liom cúpla focal a rá ar an reachtaíocht seo. Níl éinne i gcoinne an athraithe bhunúsaigh atá ag tarlú sa reachtaíocht. Is é an rud atá á dhéanamh ná aon seans a sheachaint go gcuirfí i leith an choláiste — nó na hollscoile, mar atá sé faoi láthair — go raibh sé ag baint mí-úsáide as an nGaeilge i leith ceapachán do phoist éagsúla sa choláiste féin.

I wish to declare an interest. I have an honorary adjunct professorship at University College Galway that is non-remunerated and I taught on the staff of the university from the end of the 1960s. It would be acknowledged that the standard of scholarship, be it in the humanities or in the sciences, was never lessened by the fact that people were able to practice their scholarship and teach through the medium of Irish. This is true whether one is talking about history, physics, maths physics or the biological sciences. I welcome the removal of any suggestion that misuse would be made of the Irish language requirement, for example, that one would have to find candidates unsuitable in order to be able to appoint a candidate to a post — a candidate who might, for example, have been the first choice in a particular applied subject.

In listening to the Minister I agree with my colleague, Deputy O'Sullivan, when she refers to this utilitarian emphasis which is current. I value university teaching and I regret what is happening in so many of our universities, in the destruction of an ethos of scholarly reflection, the destruction of the capacity for maturation among students, the needless stress, the packaging of information and the substitution of information pushing within what is called a knowledge economy as a substitute for the requirements of the creative society. The creative society and scholarship and the university ethos make possible the myriad forms of the knowledge economy. If the universities and the creative capacity of society is reduced to the requirements of the knowledge economy at one moment in time, one is creating obsolescence and a stultifying kind of intelligence that is the substitute for either knowledge or wisdom.

Maidir leis an reachtaíocht féin agus an rud atá ag tarlú, tá daoine ar aon intinn faoin leasú bunúsach, is é sin, na coinníollacha a bhaineann le ceapacháin do phoist a athrú. Tá difríochtaí ann, agus tá siad ag tarlú toisc gur féidir dhá léamh a dhéanamh ar an Alt atáá chur in áit an chinn atáá bhaint de. Mar shampla, nuair a bhí cruinniú de choiste rialaithe na hollscoile cúpla bliain ó shin, bhí dréacht acu, agus ar an gcéad dul síos leag siad béim air go mbeadh cúrsaí leathana ar fáil agus réim chumarsáide ann ina mbeadh daoine in ann a ngnó a dhéanamh ar bhunús dátheangach ar a laghad. An rud atá tábhachtach ag an bpointe seo ná, ar an gcéad dul síos, nach mbeadh sé mar ghnáthaidhm ag an ollscoil ach mar phríomhaidhm aici go gcuirfí an Ghaeilge chun cinn. Ghlac an tAire leis sin. An darna ceann ná go mbeadh sé intuigthe go mbeadh cúrsaí ar fáil in ábhair éagsúla i réim a bheadh cuíosach leathan.

An tríú ceann ná go bhfuil difríocht eadrainn maidir le tábhacht an Achta teanga. Má táthar ag iarraidh go mbeadh an Ghaeilge ann ar bhunús dátheangach, caithfear daoine a spreagadh é sin a bhaint amach. Ní bheadh sí ann dá mbeadh síá brú ar dhaoine ar chor ar bith. Ní féidir bheith ag brath ar an Acht teanga, toisc go bhfuil an tAcht lag sa mhéid seo. Tá siadsan ag caint ar scéimeanna a chur ar aghaidh, ach tá sé scríofa síos i gcló san Acht céanna gur feidir le hinstitiúid ar bith an oibleagáid atá uirthi a athrú. It is not copper-fastened in the Official Languages Act because the institution may seek to have itself removed from the obligation to promote the Irish language.

None of us wants the Irish language to be abused in such a way as to create a fictional situation in which one would not be able to hire the best candidate. However, I see nothing wrong with those who have international scholarship using the Irish language. It is a reasonable expectation that courses would be available through Irish across a wide spectrum of subjects. It is not unreasonable to create an ethos of encouragement for a bilingual culture of communication. I cannot see why there would be a difficulty about any of these issues.

For nearly 30 years I taught, in one capacity or another, at what was UCG and is now the National University of Ireland, Galway. I have seen what is being allocated for the universities and have heard it said that universities must compete with each other. There is world class scholarship in old Irish and Hiberno-Latin, and in the history of scholarship people have combined physics and mathematics in various computations. People who organise international gatherings of scholars on such topics are asked to make them more glamorous. I know that for a fact.

In discussing world scholarship, however, we are not talking about organising celebrity events. It distressed me very much to hear that the Science Foundation Ireland did not view favourably scholarship of the kind to which I have referred. I am not imputing these views to the Minister but it is important for us, when discussing universities, to retain their ethos. We are getting to the point, however, where if one advertises internationally to offer a university education without cramming, stress, pressure or the artificial construction of subjects, one would be inundated with applications from all over the world. There are such things as university teaching, the maturation of students and the combination of colleagues. Professors who are leading research projects need to have the capacity to construct teams around them without this neo-utilitarian vulgarity and Philistinism, which is wrecking the Irish university system.

As regards the Bill, I look forward, as do my colleagues, to the removal of any suggestion that the university would be abusing the filter of the Irish language. Let us remember, however, that in the history of University College Galway, there were times when the university was nearly wound up. It kept going on the basis that it used its commitment to the Irish language to secure funding and a continued existence.

It would be ridiculous if people tried to suggest that we are divided on the issue of a commitment to the Irish language. The issue in the amendment is to make it dearfach and strong so that there is no possibility of ambiguity, and that we are making a genuine commitment. Is féidir linn glacadh le cuid de na leasuithe lena chinntiú sin. Bheimis ar aon intinn faoin reachtaíocht seo.

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