Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 629: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if all three Irish language dialects will be covered equally in the new Abair Leat pilot project. [8188/10]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The Abair Leat resource was developed by Coláiste Lurgan, an independent college which organises summer Irish courses designed to cater primarily for post-primary students who wish to improve their competence in the Irish language.

The Abair Leat website was designed to support Coláiste Lurgan's students in consolidating the Irish they learned while attending Coláiste Lurgan and residing with Gaeltacht families. Because Coláiste Lurgan is situated in Indreabhán, Conamara, the Irish dialect spoken locally comprises the largest proportion of the material on the website, as it is the dialect with which Coláiste Lurgan students would be most familiar. The Department's Second Level Support Service for the teaching of Irish developed one module on the website aimed at First Year students. All the major Irish dialects are equally represented in this module.

The pilot project has two objectives: to assess the impact of internet-based resources on student's achievement in Irish and to assess the robustness of the technology in delivering learning content via the internet.

When I receive a report on the pilot project later this year, I will consider whether further development of internet resources is appropriate. In the event that further resources are developed, the major Irish dialects will be represented in the material.