Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

I share the concerns expressed by the Deputy. The crisis in literacy and numeracy in the primary school system and the results that emerged from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment, PISA, demanded a national response. I published that national response in June 2011. Over time, the cost of that response, including the additional year of teaching for primary school teachers from three to four years of study and from one to two years for secondary school teachers, will amount to approximately €19 million. From memory, the language initiative cost of the order of €3 million. I used that money in the following way: by closing down that initiative. The NCCA recommended this although approximately 550 schools participated and got good results relatively speaking. We heard the same presentation. The NCCA, by which I must be guided, did not recommend making it mainstream throughout all schools. A new examination of this under way from Professor Cummins and Professor O'Dwyer. We will see what they recommend. They are considering a different way of approaching continental language learning in primary schools.

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