Joe Conway (Independent)

When I look at what is there in the teaching force - it is no fault of theirs - in many primary schools, I see teachers who are trying to deliver the national language, athbheochan na Gaeilge a chur ar aghaidh, and teach Gaeilge but, go feidhmiúil, tá siad neamhliteartha, they are effectively illiterate in the language. It is shocking but that is where we are at. We will never make an impression on the Irish language if we have people going into the teaching force who got a grade C in the leaving certificate in Gaeilge, which was probably as a result of a grinds school, but do not have a clue about how to speak or deliver the language. They are trying their best and they are being supported in the colleges, but we have to look at what we are doing in primary schools with Gaeilge. The Minister needs to think about having a specialist Gaeilge teacher in every school in the country because the general level of Gaeilge support that is given to children is not there and we might as well be blowing it out of the window. If we do not get to grips with this, we will not have a Gaeilge to support in the ordinary national schools.

A mhalairt sin, it is much different when it comes to the Gaelscoileanna. We used to talk about how Irish was a low-status, low-utility language. As a result of the Gaelscoileanna, my kids and the generation that are coming on now, however, it is beginning to be a high-status, high-utility language. A lot of that is down to the model being used in the Gaelscoileanna, where the teaching of Gaeilge has a realistic model. We have to begin to raise the standards in the ordinary national schools. Otherwise, we will have the demise of our national tongue. That is the simple fact of it.

I am almost out of time and I want to say something about the teaching force. Every one of us, be we Senators, the Minister for education, the Cathaoirleach or anyone else, loves to be told when we are doing a good job. The Minister is doing a good job, as did her predecessors, but she will not be able to do the job she wants to do if she is not investing in the Irish education system, particularly in primary education. Ireland is the third richest country in the world, according to World Bank figures, but we are still way below the OECD average when it comes to investment in primary education. I attended a briefing by the INTO yesterday and it made requests such as increasing the primary capitation grant by €75 per pupil. That is not a very big request. Another request was to reduce the average class size. That is the kernel of success. There will be a demographic dividend in the next few years, so use that to cut the numbers. It will happen naturally provided that the Minister does not renege on it. There was a request to build on the success of the small schools pilot project. There is a lot of disadvantage in small schools around the country, but it is not recognised. When we usually talk about schools that are under pressure, they are in cities and, specifically, in inner cities but rural Ireland is in difficulty as well. The INTO also asked that we introduce a special educational needs co-ordinator so that the transition in different sections can be more easily managed.

Well done to the Minister and the wider Government. I respect what she is doing and the efforts of her predecessors. We have a great teaching force and potentially a great system but there are some areas that are creaking. I have addressed one of them, namely, the Irish language. If we get real about this, we could save it, but not by continuing to do the same thing as we have been for the past generation.