Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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322. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of ten year old children here currently learning a modern language and the number of primary schools here that teach a modern language. [13349/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Developing provision for languages in education remains a priority for my Department and under the Action Plan for Jobs 2015, a new Foreign Languages in Education Strategy will be published later this year.

The priority at primary level is to provide high-quality language learning in our two national languages, Irish and English. A new Integrated Primary Languages Curriculum, incorporating Irish and English, has been developed by the NCCA. The first phase will be introduced for Junior Infants to 2nd classes from September 2016. This curriculum aims to ensure that pupils acquire transferrable language skills which will assist them in learning Irish and English and additional languages at second level.

If schools teach an extra-curricular language, this may be done at the discretion of the Board of Management.