Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

The Minister will be aware of a recent case initiated in the High Court concerning Irish language immersion at a young age. While I do not wish to comment on the particulars of this ongoing case, the persons who brought the case have been allowed to have the matter dealt with further in the High Court. It came to attention early in the court case that at no stage since the revised curriculum was adopted by the Department and the Minister has it been given statutory effect by way of regulations. Is the Minister aware of any advice from the Department to effectively put the revised curriculum on a statutory footing?

I understand that on several occasions, officials in the Department have advised her to this effect, as highlighted by an investigative journalism report by TG4. Given the import of the curriculum and circulars that followed it since 1999, it would make more sense to put it in a statutory form to ensure its legal certainty.

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