6. D'fhiafraigh Deputy John Connolly den Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science cad iad na beartais agus gníomhartha atá á ndéanamh ag a Roinn chun cur le líon agus raon na gcúrsaí trí mheán na Gaeilge atá ar fáil do mhic léinn sna forais ardoideachais; agus an ndéanfaidh sé ráiteas ina thaobh. [56314/25]

Sentiment score: 0.13

Cuirim ceist ar an Aire faoi na hiarrachtaí ar siúl ag an Roinn chun cur le líon agus raon na gcúrsaí trí mheán na Gaeilge atá ar fáil do mhic léinn sa chóras ardoideachais. Is léir nach bhfuil mórán acu ann. Níl faoi láthair ach 1,779 mac léinn i mbun staidéir i nGaeilge amháin, agus tá formhór na mac léinn sin ag déanamh staidéar ar Ghaeilge mar ábhar é féin. Is beag deis atá ag mic léinn staidéar a dhéanamh trí mheán na Gaeilge sna hinstitiúidí tríú leibhéal.

Sentiment score: -0.14

Molaim iarrachtaí an Aire an cheist a fhreagairt i nGaeilge. Tá mé fíorbhuíoch dó as sin. To put things in numerical perspective, 8% of children can attend primary school through Irish, and 3.8% of those proceed to attend secondary school in Irish. However, titeann sé sin go dtí níos lú ná 1% sna hinstitiúidí tríú leibhéal. That falls to less than 1% of students who complete their tertiary education through Irish. Ar bhealach, in a way, it is a matter of rights. D'aon pháiste nó d'aon duine óg, for any young person who comes from the Gaeltacht and who wants to continue their education through Irish, the options are very limited. We need to look at this in terms of the rights of the student. Unfortunately, I did not get an opportunity to attend a workshop that happened in the University of Galway during the summer, but I have spoken to people who were at it. The issue was the role of minority languages in third level institutions. It was also attended by people from Scotland and Wales who spoke about their experiences. The Welsh example is one we should look at.

Sentiment score: -0.14

We should look at that Welsh model. It is a state framework for the promotion of courses through the Welsh language across their third level institutions. It has doubled since 2011 the number of students completing their third level education through Welsh. It offers additional grants to the institutions to offer courses through Welsh and scholarships to students. Those people from Conradh na Gaeilge who attended the Irish language committee recently spoke about the real impact it is having on the Welsh language and the young people's spirit in trying to make sure they go on to live their lives through use of the Welsh language as their first and primary language. I stress that we are reducing the option for people for whom Irish is their daily language to study at third level. I would like us to look at this in a broader context than just those who wish to study Irish. We should be looking at people who want to study medicine, engineering, commerce or whatever. We should be offering them the opportunity to complete that through Irish.

Sentiment score: 0.16