asked the Minister for Education if he intends to grant the same opportunity to Intermediate Certificate pupils as that afforded to Leaving Certificate pupils whereby those who fail Irish will be afforded the opportunity of repeating the subject without forfeiting the examination.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Intermediate Certificate: Failures in Irish.
30.
The special supplementary examination in Irish for recognised pupils who would have qualified for the award of the Leaving Certificate if they had not failed in Irish is being provided in implementation of recommendation 178 of An Coimisiún um Athbheochan na Gaeilge as accepted by the Government in the White Paper "Athbheochan na Gaeilge". No such recommendation was made in regard to the Intermediate Certificate.
In any event, the conditions for the award of the Intermediate Certificate are not the same as those relating to the award of the Leaving Certificate. I am satisfied that the position in this regard in so far as the Intermediate Certificate is concerned is adequately catered for in the provision which enables a candidate to be deemed to have passed the examination, who, having passed in four other subjects, fails in Irish but obtains at least 30 per cent of the total marks in that subject. Furthermore there is a choice of two Irish papers, one of which is set on a lower course.