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

I acknowledge that the report on Irish was different from those in the other subjects where we saw consistent improvement, in English, in mathematics etc. In relation to Irish, there was an improvement at second level but no improvement at primary level and this is a cause of concern raised by the inspector.

In terms of the policy to address this, we have new curricula at both primary level and junior cycle. Currently, we are investing in the support of teachers to adopt these new curricula. They have a much higher emphasis on the communicated language and the oral language, and that is strongly advised as being a key route to improve performance in this area. In addition, we are investing in new routes to both improve the existing skills of teachers, with masters qualifications being tendered for, additional resources in NUIG to support such improvement and a new undergraduate route into post-primary teaching of Irish. These policies are being implemented but, based on those findings yesterday, we will be consulting more widely to ensure the policies we have in place are adequate to address this problem.

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