John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Molaim iarrachtaí an Aire an cheist a fhreagairt i nGaeilge. Tá mé fíorbhuíoch dó as sin.

To put things in numerical perspective, 8% of children can attend primary school through Irish, and 3.8% of those proceed to attend secondary school in Irish. However, titeann sé sin go dtí níos lú ná 1% sna hinstitiúidí tríú leibhéal. That falls to less than 1% of students who complete their tertiary education through Irish. Ar bhealach, in a way, it is a matter of rights. D'aon pháiste nó d'aon duine óg, for any young person who comes from the Gaeltacht and who wants to continue their education through Irish, the options are very limited. We need to look at this in terms of the rights of the student.

Unfortunately, I did not get an opportunity to attend a workshop that happened in the University of Galway during the summer, but I have spoken to people who were at it. The issue was the role of minority languages in third level institutions. It was also attended by people from Scotland and Wales who spoke about their experiences. The Welsh example is one we should look at.

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