Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Níl Gaeilge líofa agam agus nílim abálta an díospóireacht a fhreagairt as Gaeilge. Nonetheless, I thank both Deputies for their contribution to the debate. I absolutely understand their passionate commitment to the language, which I greatly admire. I note Deputy Peadar Tóibín's concern about Ministers appointed to posts who do not have a record of interest in the Irish language. If that was the qualification then I might not be in this post myself. I have had the privilege to introduce the first ever policy for the Gaeltacht. I believe this policy is innovative and valuable. We are putting serious resources behind it. We want to create an immersion model within the Gaeltacht to make sure that the beacons we have in Gaeltacht schools are protected and that we have more schools that have the deep commitment to the immersion to the language, which the Deputies have rightly said is not there. Even in schools within the Gaeltacht there are some teachers who do not have that.

We are committing real resources to upskill teachers and provide immersion courses at third level so that teachers who are coming out would have full immersion in their own qualification. Similarly, there are Master's courses that will ensure that teachers who are in schools can acquire the skills they need. I strongly dispute the contention that we need the leader of policy in any sphere to be themselves fluent in Irish in order to develop and execute policies that protect and create centres of excellence for Irish that can be a model for growing the language and the love of the language in the State. I believe that this is the fundamental principle of what we are debating; does the leader of learning in an institution have themselves to be fluent in order to develop a strategy that delivers the policy objectives we are trying to secure.

My understanding of the history of this issue is that there never was a statutory requirement in this regard. It was always the universities' statutes since 2006 and it was not an Oireachtas-----

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