Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

The Government's 20-year strategy for the Irish language cited research showing that Irish was taught to a very good standard in only half of primary schools, in one third of the classes Irish was taught through the medium of English and pupils in just over half of lessons inspected were able to express themselves satisfactorily in Irish.

The key concern for many in the gaelscoileanna sector is that there will be a reduction in standards and quality in terms of many of these teachers coming forward. Should An Foras Pátrúnachta na Scoileanna LánGhaeilge not have the right to insist teachers on it panel have a required level of Irish that will allow them to teach in a gaelscoil? The reality is that the Irish of many teachers is at best rusty and not of a high enough standard to teach children solely through the medium of Ireland. That is the key concern. Those in the sector are worried that the quality of Irish teaching and service provided for the pupils concerned will be reduced by many of the teachers coming through the system.

See this speech in context