Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. How nervous I felt is not reflection of how welcome I feel when I become engaged in the language. I feel particularly grateful towards Conradh na Gaeilge, which has been very engaging towards me as someone who does not yet speak the language. I have been able to advocate for communities that do because of the great work of people in Conradh na Gaeilge and people in my own party, such as Paul Mulville, who helped me to prepare today's speech.

It is a rarity in this Chamber that I feel any sort of envy or anything like that, but when I hear the language being expressed in all its beauty, such as when Deputy Ó Snodaigh speaks as Gaeilge in a strong Dublin brogue, I wish I had access to it. I have a passion for hearing that and could sit listening to it all day. It is the same when the Leas-Cheann Comhairle drives a point home using the language. I may not understand the words, but I absolutely understand the conviction behind them. That is the beauty of the Irish language, in the sense that every syllable is uttered with desire and drive behind it. My proficiency in the language is something I intend to address.

I echo Conradh na Gaeilge's call for the following three issues to be addressed as a priority. First, a policy for Irish from preschool to third level was promised in the programme for Government. I acknowledge the Minister of State's new role.

Although work is progressing on a policy for Irish-medium schools outside of the Gaeltacht, no start has yet been made on developing a policy for the whole student body, which leaves 92% of pupils without a policy being developed for them. In the wake of these delays, support for Irish-language education is trending downwards. It has been reported that half an hour of teaching per week is to be removed from the primary curriculum from third class onwards. No research has been done on the implications this could have on the standard of Irish in the population, and it does not take into account the fact there are already problems with the learning of Irish in primary schools. You do not have to ask many parents of students around the country to realise this. Furthermore, the decision to move paper 1 of the Irish leaving certificate examination to the end of fifth year has been postponed by a year but not scrapped. Conradh na Gaeilge strongly desires that this decision be revoked. Students and teachers are furious about this decision to move the paper, which has no educational basis. I would like to see a commitment to scrap this proposal outright.

Crucially, the number of students with exemptions from Irish at second level is growing and there seems to be no plan to change the system so that students with additional needs are facilitated. They are left with no avenues to explore learning the language and are essentially abandoned by what appears to be, for some, a broken system with no supports included. Adequate supports must be put in place to ensure those with exemptions have an opportunity to learn their national language. These issues could be resolved by an action plan that details a pathway to proficiency from preschool to third level, which would be informed by relevant experts.

If we look to Wales, we see a nation committed to increasing the survival rate of its native tongue. The country is planning to grow the number of pupils receiving education through the medium of Welsh from 23% to 40% by 2050. In Ireland, the Department of Education has no such plan or measurable target to increase the number of pupils receiving Irish-medium education. A snapshot of the current climate here is captured by the calls for new Gaelscoileanna in Dublin 2, 4, 6 and 8, an area with a population of 200,000 people without any Gaelcholáiste. I find that incredibly disheartening. Each year for the past two or three years, I have seen students from Dublin 2, 4, 6 and 8 outside protesting, singing songs in the Irish language and calling for and demanding that their areas receive educational provision in their native language. I also see this in my constituency of Dublin Central, where parents and students are literally on waiting lists to get into Irish-speaking schools. We must have a desire to change. There has to be a strong urge to facilitate the language.

While I do not have the capacity to speak Irish, I genuinely see us on the precipice of a really strongly cultural revival in respect of the Irish language. It has already been captured by the previous speaker, Deputy Ó Cathasaigh, that we have an Oscar nomination for an Irish-language film. We also have artists who are singing in their native tongue and topping the charts while doing so. The State needs to step forward and meet that passion for the language because there is clearly a desire among the population to have access to it.

It is becoming more and more difficult for the Gaeltacht community to get planning permission in their own area. It is outrageous. This needs to be resolved urgently, especially for young people in the Gaeltacht who wish to settle at home. Conradh na Gaeilge has drawn up a national housing policy for the Gaeltacht, which recommends that, after two years of asking, the Gaeltacht community be represented on the joint committee established between the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. It is also essential for policy to recognise that a person who speaks Irish has a local need, and to facilitate the planning process for Gaeltacht communities accordingly, and for an independent language impact assessment to be required for inclusion in any application for planning permission for a house or any type of development in a Gaeltacht area. The same should go for any other developments.

An conradh has been asking for a task force or working group to be set up urgently to develop a strategic plan for the future of the Irish language summer colleges and to identify the problems and issues they currently face. Irish language colleges are fantastic and do incredible work in opening up everyday access to the language for students who are lucky and fortunate enough to visit them. We need to do everything in our power to ensure they are strengthened and fortified and continue to flourish in the way they previously have.

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