Dáil debates
Tuesday, 13 February 2024
Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
Irish Language
9:50 pm
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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69. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department will conduct an investigation into the steep rise in exemptions from the study of Irish at primary and post-primary level to assess the learning necessity for those exemptions and develop strategies to minimise the number of and necessity for exemptions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6266/24]
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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I hope we will return soon to the debate we have just been having. My question relates to exemptions for the study of the Irish language, of which, it seems, an increasing number are being granted at primary and post-primary level. Will the Minister make a statement on the matter?
Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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As a country, we recognise the unique value and richness of the teaching and learning of our national language. That is reflected in our education system, which seeks to constantly promote and protect the language.
Indeed, Irish has the unique position of being the only mandatory requirement for all students sitting leaving certificate examinations. At the same time, there has long since been a recognition that across a system as large as the education sector, there will always be students with exceptional needs and circumstances. As such, there has been a system of exemptions from this requirement to learn Irish in place since the 1970s.
New circulars setting out the circumstances under which schools may consider granting an exemption from the study of Irish were published in 2022 following a review of older circulars. The current circular now allows parents of children who have a high level of multiple and persistent needs that are a significant barrier to their participation and engagement in their learning and school life to apply for an exemption. The overall number of exemptions in place at primary level in 2017/18 was 18,301, compared to 13,060 in 2022/23, a drop from 3.25% of pupils to 2.34% of pupils. In 2017/18, 82.8% of exemptions were on the basis of special educational needs, SEN, while 17.2% were granted to children coming from abroad. In 2022/23, 93.6% of exemptions were granted on a SEN basis and 6.4% were granted on a coming-from-abroad basis. In effect, we have seen a decline in the number of exemptions in primary school and a significant turnaround in that of those that are granted, almost 94% are granted on the basis of SEN and 6.4% are granted on the basis of the students coming from abroad.
At post-primary level, there were 49,570 exemptions in place in the 2022/23 school year. In 2017/18, 47.4% of exemptions at post-primary level were on the basis of SEN while 52.6% were granted to students coming from abroad, compared to 45.8% in respect of SEN and 54.2% on the basis of coming from abroad in 2022/23.
10:00 pm
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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The Minister can understand why there is concern around this. I am somebody who has seen the Irish language from both sides. I learned it in an English-speaking school and I think one of the greatest policy failures of the past 100 years is the standard of Irish an average Irish child has. I then went to a Gaelscoil for a year, immersed myself in the language and have been able to speak it relatively fluently since then. The methodology of how we teach Irish has to be scrutinised. I know there have been improvements. There is also a question mark over the number of students who are getting exemptions from Irish but continuing to study other languages, such as French, German or whatever. There is a concern among the Irish language community that there is a soft option to get out of Irish and it is giving the impression that Irish is much more difficult a subject to learn, enjoy or be empowered by than any other, if the Minister understands my meaning.
I want to get my head around it. Does the Minister accept that there is a problem, and what kind of response is the Department intending to make?
Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate the concern that the Deputy is bringing to the floor. When we look at it, we have to look at primary and post-primary levels. We have seen a significant reduction in exemptions at primary level, yet at post-primary level there has been an increase, but it is an increase of about 3%. We need to look at that in the context of the fact that this is a new circular. In the first year of implementation there is always going to be greater uptake because there may well have been a backlog. We also need to look at the fact that in the post-primary sector in particular there are over 18,000 students collectively from Ukraine who are now in the system. At post-primary level specifically, 36,629 students have come into the education system from abroad in the past couple of years. During this period, the prevalence rate of autism has grown from 1.8% to over 3.2%. It is also worth nothing that there are now almost 9,000 pupils enrolled in special schools and a further almost 18,500 students enrolled in special classes. Since 2017-18, the percentage of post-primary students holding an exemption from the study of Irish has increased by roughly 3%.
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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I would appreciate greater engagement on this. I am not somebody who is a believer that any subject needs to be compulsory at second level. I think it is very destructive for someone to be in a classroom learning something they really just do not want to learn. I would say that about any subject. However, we have the system that we have. Is it the contention of the Department that if you have a SEN or a challenge in your learning, Irish is something that you do not need to learn? I need to tease this out. If we value Irish, every child, regardless of their academic ability or challenges they may have, should be open and exposed to whatever level of words they can enjoy. I would not want the message to go out from the Department and the education system that this is something that is just too difficult and that you can get out of it for various different reasons. Having said that, there is a wider discussion to be had about the compulsory nature of it.
Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I want to be very honest in agreeing with the Deputy that at no point would I suggest that any child, and in particular a child who might have an additional need, should not be availing of Irish. On the contrary, it is the view that if ultimately a decision is taken that they will not take the subject to exam level, they should still have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the experience of it and be part of the experience. I would absolutely want to ensure that that is the case. In the first instance, every child should have an opportunity to experience the language.
The Department has written to every school principal, reminding them of the relevant circulars and criteria that have been laid down under which an exemption may be granted. A level of auditing of schools regarding the granting of exemptions will also be carried out, informed by the data available to the Department. We want to do the best for every single child. We want to ensure that the Irish language continues to be grown and nurtured in our school system, and we want to do that in a fair and equitable way for all students.