Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)

I apologise for my late arrival in the Chamber. I had thought our matter was the second one on the Topical Issue agenda. As Deputy Griffin has outlined, the proposed abolition of the modern languages in primary schools initiative is a regressive cut. The children involved in the initiative, which is offered in 550 schools throughout the country, derive significant value from it. They are given a substantial head-start in modern European languages in fifth and sixth classes before they progress into the secondary system. It is vitally important that children are proficient in European languages when they leave the education system.

Ireland is a member of the EU and Irish companies do a great deal of business in Europe. We need our young people to be able to communicate with their European counterparts in a number of languages. We always hear business leaders bemoaning the fact that many Irish graduates are not very proficient in European languages. They have great difficulty recruiting people who can communicate in the various languages that are used around Europe. The Barcelona agreement and the Lisbon strategy, which called for systems to be put in place by 2010 to facilitate the early learning of at least two languages, were not ratified by the EU until last November.

The senseless cutback that is being introduced by the Department of Education and Skills, which will save just €2 million per annum, will place children at a severe disadvantage at a time when they need to be learning modern European languages. This regressive step should be reversed. I have received a great deal of correspondence in recent days from many school children who are very concerned about this cutback. I received a letter today from a pupil who said, "when my teacher told us that you cut modern languages, I was ready to cry". That is the impact this is having on children who were looking forward to increasing their education and developing their skills.

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