Déirdre de Búrca (Green Party)

Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh Des Bishop freisin. Is dóigh liom gur iontach an rud a rinne sé nuair a chuaigh sé go dtí an Ghaeltacht. Tugann sé sampla dúinn go léir. Tá sé ar intinn agam dul go dtí an Ghaeltacht i rith an tsamhraidh chun iarracht a dhéanamh feabhas a chur ar mo chuid Gaeilge, chun go mbeidh a dhóthain muiníne agam í a úsáid anseo.

I admire Des Bishop for going to the Gaeltacht and giving an example of how one can improve one's Irish. I intend to improve my Irish so I can have the confidence to participate in more debates in the Seanad through Irish. I also echo the comments of Senator O'Toole and others regarding the policy of tomoideachas or total immersion in the Irish language.

The previous Minister for Education and Science indicated that it was the Department's intention to introduce a policy whereby half an hour of English would be taught to children in their second year of education in gaelscoileanna. This is a break with the established policy of total immersion in the Irish language for the first two years of attending a gaelscoil. I hope the new Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, will reconsider this ill-thought out policy. It appears from the public meetings I have attended and the lobbying on this issue that the policy is not based on research or best practice in other countries, which have shown that where a policy of total immersion in the minority language, such as Irish, occurs, it does not interfere with but actually enhances children's ability to acquire the majority language. I hope the Department's policy will be reconsidered.

I agree with Senators who voiced their concern about the small number of women who have been appointed to the office of Minister of State. It is a matter of concern, although I congratulate all the Ministers of State who were appointed yesterday by the Taoiseach. This House should examine the issue of how to promote more women to positions such as Minister of State. It is true that if there are not enough women in the Dáil and Seanad, it will not be possible to appoint women to those positions when opportunities arise such as the Taoiseach had yesterday. I ask the Leader to facilitate that debate, perhaps in the context of the IPU report, during which we could examine the issue of women's participation in politics and what the Houses of the Oireachtas can do to promote greater participation.

There is another issue I wish to raise and I hope you will bear with me, a Chathaoirligh, given that you said you did not want a debate on the Lisbon treaty on the Order of Business. However, I have heard representatives of Sinn Féin make the point that if Irish farmers support the Lisbon treaty, Ireland will lose its veto on negotiations within the World Trade Organisation on agriculture. That is absolutely false.