Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 8, line 3, after "with" to insert the following:

", or attended a course of instruction or sat an examination for the purposes of seeking to comply with,".

This deals with an issue I raised on Committee Stage. In the context of the powers he will have when the Bill is commenced, the Minister indicated he will have flexibility to deal with this issue of students in the pipeline, which is of concern to us.

We are not sure when the Bill will be enacted as it must go through the Seanad after we finish with it here. Let us say it will be signed into law in May. If a person passed an Irish examination in January this year but is not notified of this until June, technically that person has not complied with section 3 of the 1929 Act prior to the passing of this Bill. Alternatively, under section 1(3)(b) of the Bill a person who attends the Irish course in 2008 to 2009 but fails the exam is required to attend Irish lectures for a second time because he or she did not pass an exam even though an exam will not exist. The students in 2008 to 2009 could be prevented from passing because they did not pass an Irish exam which will not exist after this legislation is enacted.

Later in the Committee Stage debate, the Minister stated that because he has flexibility with regard to the enactment dates he can deal with these issues. If the Minister of State can give this assurance, I am happy not to proceed with these amendments.

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