Martin Conway (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Ciarán Cannon, for waiting to take this final Adjournment matter. The modern languages initiative in primary schools is an issue that was brought to my attention this weekend, due to the plans introduced in the budget, unbeknownst to many people, to end the initiative.

This programme was introduced some time ago and has proven quite successful in fostering a knowledge and love of foreign languages among primary school children. As the Chair, the Minister of State and I are aware, the option was not available to us in primary school to learn French, German or Spanish, as happens in some schools in my area. As the Minister of State's constituency borders on my area, I know he is aware of the importance of ensuring that rural Ireland, in particular, has these opportunities. Looking at some of the jobs created in recent years, particularly in areas like Shannon and Galway, they have been in the telesales area for international companies. In the Shannon free zone, in particular, a number of companies provided specialist services through French, German, Chinese, Japanese and other languages. What has attracted these companies to the area has been the high quality second level education, particularly in the area of modern European languages.

Extending the modern language programme to primary schools was a great idea. Most other European countries teach at least one other language and most children leaving European primary schools have at least basic knowledge of two languages. In Ireland, students have Irish and English and that is all. While Irish is important for the formation of the character of students, the study of at least one European language is desirable. In my area of north Clare, there were two visiting teachers, visiting a myriad of schools in the west and east Clare areas. Those two teachers provided classes in Spanish, French, German, Italian and one other language. Not all kids blossomed in this area, but a number of them have shown enormous potential. I know of examples where kids have gone abroad with their families as a direct result of the knowledge and love of the language they learned.

I believe the axing of the initiative will save €2.5 million, but there are other ways this amount could be saved rather than eliminating the service with immediate effect, which is something about which I am concerned. Children who have been learning a language since September, will no longer have their classes after Christmas as the programme will not even continue for the full academic year. This is most regrettable as is the fact that the teachers in question will be made redundant immediately. I call on the Minister to review this. I am aware that other elements of the budget, particularly with regard to disability, have been reviewed. There is nothing wrong with conducting an examination and realising that decisions should be tweaked. This is one area I sincerely hope the Minister will tweak.