Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

Yesterday a report was apparently presented to the Oireachtas regarding the huge losses incurred by RTE, but I have not yet received it. I ask the Deputy Leader to find out why Senators do not appear to have received the report. It contains the news that RTE has lost €20 million this year. If other expenses are added, the real figure is about €56 million. This is quite amazing, especially as RTE has been given an increase in licence fees of about €45 per year. We need a debate on this issue. We must compare these results to those of TV3 and UTV, which made a profit, and consider how this can be sustained in the long term.

Yesterday a report was produced by Professor Little of TCD about making Irish and a foreign language compulsory in post-primary schools. I welcome the report, but it is important that we debate it in the House. I do not subscribe to the view that by making a language compulsory we will necessarily do it any favours. One way of turning people off a language, especially Irish, for which we all have a grá, is to make it compulsory. We should note the report and debate it in the House in order to consider how we should move forward. With all due respect to everyone involved in the teaching of Irish, the State's efforts to promote Irish have been a failure, when one compares the amount of time spent teaching it in school to the level of fluency people have afterwards. The results of this policy do not reflect all the hard work that goes into it. It is time we had a proper debate on how we can promote Irish as a living language.