Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I am a major supporter of modern languages. The Deputy is correct that some organisations would say young people who qualify in three languages or more at university deserve special treatment in the sense there will always be opportunities for them. When I meet representatives of multinationals, especially where call offices are involved and some of which are seeking to employ groups of 300 or 400, there is always a demand for languages. The children of this country are as capable of learning multilinguistic functions and sounds as are any other children. It is a given that children are always challenged by new sounds, words and ways of communicating. The Minister for Education and Skills made his decision regarding the modern languages initiative, for the present, on the basis of the recommendation by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment to that effect. I have had many interactions with Deputy Martin, both as Gaeilge and as Béarla, about the way we teach our native language and how, because of particular difficulties or factors, many of our children cannot speak it after 12, 13 or 14 years. There are issues with teaching methods, teacher training and communication facilities. It is very easy to teach modern languages, however, and the methods involved have changed to an extraordinary degree in recent years. The Deputy will have heard over the years of people, 60 or 70 years ago, being able to communicate in Greek, for example, because of the presence of a particular teacher.

I will speak to the Minister for Education and Skills, who also has a clear interest in modern languages and communications, about the issue. As I said, it was a recommendation of the NCCA that the current situation be adopted for the present. The money that was formerly allocated for this purpose was put into the literacy and numeracy strategy. I give a guarantee to the House that I will review the matter. Some would argue the primary school curriculum is overloaded. I have spoken to junior certificate mathematics teachers whose pupils have difficulty with the basics of addition, subtraction, division and so on. It is a question of identifying priorities in the primary school system and deciding where modern languages fit into it. As I said, I am a supporter of modern languages. It is wonderful for young people, in a global situation that has changed utterly, to be able to travel and communicate freely. I was in Galway yesterday where Cisco is making a €26 million investment. Its capacity to communicate high definition data globally in real time is quite incredible. Most of the larger companies use the software that is designed for that purpose, and multilingual skills are vital in that regard.

In regard to the EU matters website, it was a good initiative but, unfortunately, it was not updated regularly. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade operates its own website in respect of international matters, while European matters are now handled through the European section of the Department of the Taoiseach. I have spoken to staff in that section about the importance of it being a vibrant, energetic, communicating website which deals not just with this treaty, as the Deputy observed, but with all the functions of the European Union - how it works and what it means for citizens - and provides access to information on all the relevant facilities of the Union. By enabling people to be properly engaged and to find information in a straightforward fashion, it will give them an understanding of what it is to be part of Europe. I will let the House know as progress is made on getting the website up and running.

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