Irish Language Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-11 ============================================================ Jerry Buttimer (FG), Cork South-Central Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Seanadóir Noonan agus gabhaim buíochas leis as an díospóireacht seo a chur os comhair an Tí. Táim ag caint ar phlean gnímh don Ghaeilge, go mór mór sna scoileanna ina bhfuil an Béarla mar chéad teanga. Cloisim tuairimí an tSeanadóra. Táim ag éisteacht leis. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for education. In recognising what the Senator said, it is important to acknowledge that we continue to make progress in terms of the advancement of the action plan for Irish in English-medium schools. The action plan was launched in November, together with the new policy on Irish-medium education. I am fully sure that the launch of these two policies was a major achievement. This is the first time that such policies have been put in place to support ár dteanga dhúchais, Gaeilge, sna scoileanna taobh amuigh den Ghaeltacht. This is an important policy that shows the ambition of the Government and, in particular, Ministers Calleary and Naughton, regarding the new action plan for English-medium schools. It will support the excellent work being done in our bunscoileanna and in our ardscoileanna in implementing existing curriculum specifications to provide a better learning experiences of Irish and to increase its use among children and young people. We have seen an increase in Government funding in the budget. We have also seen an increase in the comhrá agus díospóireacht. Mar a dúirt an Seanadóir, tá an Uachtarán nua líofa agus is ambasadóir iontach í ar son an teanga. The action plan focuses on actions that are most likely to be effective and make a difference within a two-year timeframe, namely the period 2025 to 2027. It was informed by an extensive consultation with national schools and the various stakeholders. Discussions, díospóireachtaí, with children and young people, na daoine óga, were a key part of the consultation, and their views are strongly reflected in the action plan, an plean gnímh. It is important the action plan focuses on the key elements that make a difference to language learning in terms of mindset, teaching Irish as a language, opportunities to use Irish and the use of approaches that ensure that all children and daoine óga experience success in their learning. The action plan also places a strong focus on better co-ordination and use of the supports and resources for teaching and learning Irish trough collaboration across relevant Departments, State agencies and Irish language organisations. Work has commenced on the implementation of the action plan. Implementation supports will include professional learning opportunities for teachers, the development of resources and greater opportunities for children and young people to use Irish. A key focus will be on offering tacaíocht and supporting teachers to share effective practice and have better access to end use of resources. The important point is the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, CEFR. It provides an internationally recognised framework for language leaming. The programme for Government contains a commitment to work towards the alignment of the school curricula at the different levels with the CEFR. In line with this commitment, the new Action Plan for Irish includes an action on working towards a learning Irish-language curriculum, associated teaching supports and assessment arrangements within that CEFR to enhance spoken Irish in schools. The inclusion of this action gives recognition to the potential of CEFR to support the effective teaching and learning of Irish. The alignment of language curriculums with the CEFR is complex and, therefore, a phased approach is being adopted to align the curriculum for Irish with the CEFR. As part of this phased approach, the National Council of Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, has commenced a process towards the alignment of leaving certificate Irish to the CEFR. This work is taking place as part of the ongoing senior cycle redevelopment programme. The first meeting of the NCCA subject development group for leaving certificate Irish was held in September. It is also intended that the NCCA will advance work on achieving closer alignment of the Irish curriculum with the CEFR across the primary, junior cycle and senior cycle sector. I hear what the Senator is saying and I will certainly bring his remarks back to the Minister and the Department. It is about getting it right at the beginning. Tús maith leath na hoibre. The Senator makes a fair point. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-11/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:27+00:00 Sitting date: 2025-12-11