Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

93. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the work being undertaken in his Department to consider the inclusion of Polish into the secondary school syllabus from junior cycle upwards, in view of the increase in Polish speaking citizens living here and the growing importance of the language here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14753/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department is currently finalising its Foreign Languages in Education Strategy and publication is expected shortly. Some 80 submissions were received during the consultation process, which is informing the Strategy. Submissions, including those from the Polish community, have been considered as part of the evidence base used in informing the development of the Strategy. I am very aware of the concerns of the Polish community, and acknowledge that the large Polish immigrant population now living in Ireland provides this country with a social, cultural and national resource that I welcome and want to nurture.  

A number of meetings have taken place between officials from my Department and Polish representatives, including  with representatives of the Polish embassy in September (along with Lithuanian, Latvian, and Romanian embassy representatives) to discuss the possibilities for Polish and other languages within the Foreign Languages Strategy. There was also a meeting with the Polish Ambassador in November 2016. I myself also met with the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Waszczykowski, when he visited Ireland in November last, and agreed to investigate the possibility of setting up a number of pilot projects in relation to providing Polish in schools. More recently, the issue of teaching Polish in Irish schools was among the items discussed when the Taoiseach met the Polish Prime Minister in Warsaw on 9 February.  

The Deputy will be aware that Polish is offered as one of the suite of non-curricular Leaving Certificate EU languages (it is one of 16 languages offered in this way, and is also the most popular). The Foreign Languages in Education Strategy is considering the role of these Leaving Certificate non-curricular EU languages.