Seanad debates
Wednesday, 27 June 2018
Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (Resumed)
10:30 am
Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source
My point is less for the Minister and more for Fianna Fáil. The amendment refers to "Irish as a home language". I support the priority being given to children with Irish as their first language and preferred home language. However, the definition in paragraph (k) of "a student who speaks Irish as a home language" dilutes the idea of it being a home language. Senator Gallagher can correct me if I am wrong. The definition reads: " ... a student whose normal language of communication with one or more parents or guardians is Irish and who displays the minimum level of fluency". Surely if a child's first home language is Irish, if would not just be of the minimum level. Just as a child whose first language is English, his or her English would not be of the minimum level. If anything, that child should have the same competency as any other three, four or five year old who is starting school. This phrasing leaves the system open to more abuse, as it were, by families with some Irish at home or whose members went to Irish school but for whom Irish is not necessarily their home language. It may just be a question of wording.
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