Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)

I find the outburst about expert opinion bizarre and extraordinary. I take no part of the blame for the Minister's dithering on the Irish language because on some occasion or occasions I have asked about expert opinion. The Fr. MacGréil report states that the biggest challenge facing the Irish language is to move from ability to speak the language to usage of the language and the gap between the two.

I tabled a question for the Minister for Education and Science on this issue. Will the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs address that issue and if so when and how? I have not read the whole report but the point seems to come across strongly that there is a chasm between ability to speak the language and its use.

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