Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)

The need to promote greater proficiency in spoken Irish has been identified in a number of research reports in recent years. My Department has therefore taken a number of initiatives to ensure that students develop greater fluency in oral Irish during the course of their primary and second level education. In order to motivate students to focus on spoken Irish, a more prominent role has been given to oral Irish in the second level syllabuses and examinations. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment was asked to consider the implications of increased marks for the oral examinations for the allocation of marks for other aspects of the Irish syllabus and examinations.

I have recently received recommendations from the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment with regard to the revised leaving certificate course for Gaeilge. The courses in question, which relate to ordinary level and higher level, will be introduced in schools in September 2010 and will be examined for the first time in the leaving certificate examination 2012.

Recommendations have also been received about changes to the assessment of Gaeilge and adjustments to various components of the examinations, including the oral examination that is common to both higher level and ordinary level courses.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House The recommendations take account of the changes in the proportion of marks for the leaving certificate oral Irish examination outlined in Circular Letter 0042/2007 and recommend consequential adjustments in the allocation of marks for the written components of the examination. A circular letter providing details of the changes to the Gaeilge leaving certificate syllabuses and assessment will be issued to schools in the next two weeks.

I believe that my approach to promoting spoken Irish is entirely consistent with the Government's statement on the Irish language 2006 where the Government's policy to increase the knowledge and use of the Irish language as a community language was clearly stated. In addition to increasing the proportion of marks for oral assessment in State examinations, my Department has provided seminars and in-school supports to assist teachers of Irish in adopting new methods to support the increased emphasis on the teaching of oral Irish. The support service for Irish began the implementation of this support programme in October 2007 to promote a significant shift in emphasis towards Irish as a spoken language, to enable students to communicate and interact in a spontaneous way and to promote Irish as an everyday spoken language in schools.

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