I have not heard any complaints, and I am told that no complaint has been heard in the office. It is quite possible that there have been fluctuations from year to year. If the position is that we have had no complaint, then it is very difficult for me to answer the Deputy's query. I can only say, with regard to this question in general, that in awarding these qualifications and in holding these examinations, an effort is being made to bring the contents of the courses and of the examinations into closer concord with the needs of the schools. Naturally, the standards that were prevalent 25 or 30 years ago may not hold to-day. I explained to the House, I think, that we were trying to get ahead with teaching through Irish in the vocational schools. I indicated that up to the present we had not the progress to show there that we had in the case of the primary and the secondary schools. We have the difficulty that we have teachers in the vocational schools who, although well qualified in other respects, are not perhaps sufficiently experienced in Irish to undertake instruction through the medium of that language. There may be some change. I shall look into the matter and see if there has been or if there have been any fluctuations. If I find that there have been any complaints, or changes in the rules, I shall communicate with the Deputy. As regards the holding of the course in Galway, a course for teachers has already been held in Galway City and it was found very satisfactory. A large number of teachers attend some of those courses and the question of providing suitable accommodation for them arises.
I confess that there is something in the point that, when a teacher is attending a course, there is no reason, unless it is considered absolutely necessary, why he should be taken completely away from the ordinary amenities and amusements he is accustomed to during the holiday period. Amongst the teachers themselves I think that there has been a feeling that they would like to be given a course in or near the larger centres. In Galway the courses have been held in University College, which means something. Good accommodation is available in the City of Galway, and it is not very far from the Gaeltacht, if not actually in the Gaeltacht itself. One has only to go two or three miles from Galway to be in an Irish-speaking district and to hear Irish freely spoken as the native language. I think that there are points in favour of Galway, though I can quite see that there are other considerations. If it were to appear that we were giving all our courses to one particular centre, catering for a particular dialect, other areas and other dialects might have a grievance. But the persons attending those courses — teachers — are experienced persons and I think that the dialect difficulty gives them no great trouble. Moreover, at their level of attainment it is not really a question of giving them a further knowledge of Irish; it is a question of teaching methods and of specialised instruction. It might be that, in a course at Galway, it would be possible to get teachers of music or some other subject whom they might like to have but who might not be available in some of the Irish-speaking districts in the more remote areas.
