Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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126. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills in the context of the reform of the junior certificate, the changes that are planned for the Irish language curriculum with particular reference to the spoken language elements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33953/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The development of oral language skills has a central place in our existing curricula for primary and post-primary schools. This is reflected in the 40% of marks allocated to the oral component of Leaving Certificate Irish and the increased uptake of oral Irish in the current Junior Certificate exam.

The NCCA is currently conducting an in-depth analysis of the outcomes of a wide consultation with stakeholders on the draft specification for the new Junior Cycle Irish curriculum. The consultation process has been very informative but there is a need to further explore how the curriculum can best meet the needs of students in both English medium and Irish medium schools. In this context, the NCCA is organising a further consultation event tomorrow, 7th October.

I look forward to the outcomes of this comprehensive consultation and to the implementation of the revised Junior Cycle Irish curriculum commencing in September 2017.