Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 May 2012
1Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Taoiseach in view of the budget announcement to end the modern languages in primary schools initiative, the justification for the launch of the new pilot project called the blue star programme, one of whose aims is to promote awareness of cultural and linguistic diversity. [10020/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra2Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Taoiseach the amount of funding allocated to the blue star programme and from which Department funding has been allocated. [10021/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra3Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach if he will detail any new initiatives under his Department relating to public engagement with European Union issues. [16232/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra4Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach the reason he removed the link to www.eumatters.ie from his Departments web site; if this decision was discussed with him directly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21299/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together.
The modern languages in primary schools initiative had been a pilot scheme involving approximately 550 schools and had operated since 1998. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment's recommendation that for the present modern languages not be part of the primary school curriculum as an additional and separate subject was accepted by the Minister for Education and Skills. The primary curriculum is being reviewed by the NCCA in the context of the national literacy and numeracy strategy. The €2.5 million in savings from this measure will go towards meeting the cost of implementing the new national literacy and numeracy strategy. The Blue Star programme has to be seen in the context of the Government's commitment to building public understanding and knowledge about Ireland's EU membership. In support of this objective, my Department administers funds for the purposes o thef Communicating Europe initiative. This covers a number of activities, some ongoing and some new this year, including grants provided under the Communicating Europe initiative, the Blue Star programme, activities centred around Europe Week and a number of pre-Presidency events such as those planned by the Institute for International and European Affairs and NUI Maynooth.
The Blue Star programme for primary schools was put out to competitive tender on a pilot basis last year. The most economically advantageous tender was received from European Movement Ireland, EMI, for €39,785, excluding VAT. Accordingly, the contract to manage the programme was awarded to EMI. Payments totalling €27,849 were made last year by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, when the Communicating Europe initiative fell within its budget. Provision has been made in my Department's Estimate for this year for the balance of funding required for the pilot programme, €11,936.
I welcome the new programme for primary schools, the aim of which is to foste rthrough classroom projects and activities better understanding and knowledge of how the European Union affects our lives. The Blue Star programme will introduce participants - pupils, teachers, parents and the wider community - to the European Union, what it means and how it works. Participating schools will complete four modules on historical, geographical, cultural and creative and institutional issues relating to the European Union before the end of the current academic year. More than 90 primary schools made initial inquiries, of which 34 have signed up to undertake the programme. This shows a healthy level of interest on the part of schools in this EU education programme. All schools that successfully complete the programme will be awarded an EU flag and a Blue Star. This is a pilot programme which will be evaluated later this summer and, depending on its outcome, consideration will be given to its further operation in the next academic year.
Deputy Michéal Martin asked about public engagement. Funds available for Communicating Europe support the provision of grants under the Communicating Europe initiative. This annual programme provides funding for voluntary organisations, education bodies and civil society groups for projects aimed at deepening public awareness of the role that the European Union plays in our daily lives. Funds amounting to €46,000 were recently approved to 19 applicants. These covered Europe Day events, education and academic projects, cultural initiatives as well as national civil society and media projects.
My Department is also planning a number of cultural and other public activities to be held in Dublin centred on Europe Day this year. A programme of EU related events is also being planned in the Oireachtas and will be announced shortly.
As the House will be aware, the referendum on the stability treaty will take place on 31 May. To help the public to make an informed decision on that date, a comprehensive information campaign has been launched. This includes a 40-page treaty guide, in Irish and English, and a second information leaflet being delivered to every household in the country, along with a dedicated website - www.stabilitytreaty.ie - and media campaign. I look forward to an engaging and balanced debate over the coming weeks.
This is a particularly intense period of EU-related activity for Ireland. In addition to the referendum campaign, preparation for Ireland's Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers is intensifying. Work is underway to develop a media and communications strategy relating to Ireland's role in the EU and to develop an initial communications plan for Ireland's Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers.
As I said at the outset, the Government is committed to building public understanding and knowledge about Ireland's EU membership. The various initiatives, which I have outlined, are central to these endeavours.
Finally, Deputy Martin also asked about the EU matters website. As he is aware, this was developed by the then Department of Foreign Affairs. Following the transfer of the co-ordination of European Union affairs from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to my Department, we are considering how the Government's approach to EU issues can best be communicated to the public. The EU matters website has been taken down and links to it removed pending the outcome of this review.
Information on EU business is, of course, contained on my Department's website at www.taoiseach.gov.ie, on the Government’s news service www.merrionstreet.ie and on the websites of all Departments.
I thank the Taoiseach for his reply.
It is incredible, if I heard correctly, that it has been adjudicated by the Government that modern languages should not be part of the primary school curriculum. It was I who, in 1998-99, as Minister for Education, introduced the pilot programme for modern languages to introduce Spanish, French, German and Italian to primary schools. Since then, over 450 schools have participated annually in the cost-effective programme that has made an appreciable impact on primary school-going children enjoying and learning modern European languages. In the context of a country that wants to embrace our membership of the European Union and that wants to broaden horizons, it is incredible that the funding has been taken from that programme, that the programme is being stopped and the funding is being put into an alternative programme to do with general literacy. It is not good enough to shut down some programmes and then be photographed opening up new programmes with the same funding.
In essence, it is extraordinary that a good and worthwhile initiative has been shelved by the Government in the context of the current serious engagement with the European Union in the form of the referendum. Over the past decade thousands of school children have benefited from this programme. I ask the Taoiseach to reconsider that decision and to ensure the continuation of that programme. In the overall scheme of things, it is affordable.
Second, on the Blue Star initiative and www.eumatters.ie, it is difficult to comprehend how a specific website set up to inform the public generally about European Union matters, which we initiated when I was in the Department for Foreign Affairs because of a sense a number of years ago after the Lisbon referendum that the public needed to be informed more about Europe generally, and which was part of a wider information programme to provide information to the public on Europe, was collapsed, as the Taoiseach seemed to state in his reply, because of the EU foreign policy unit in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade being transferred to the Department of the Taoiseach. In the lead-up to a referendum campaign, this is a retrograde step.
A question, please.
Is it good enough that important pillars that we have put in place to provide broad information on Europe should be collapsed simply because of bureaucratic issues between the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of the Taoiseach, or can the Taoiseach clarity further why, in the current context, an important avenue of providing information was shut down?
Modern languages are of enormous importance as we move on in a global world. I hear people commenting on the necessity to learn new languages such as Chinese, Russian, Portuguese and Arabic because of the changing nature of the global economies.
This recommendation was made by the national council dealing with the curriculum. They recommended that, for the present, modern languages should not be part, as an additional and separate subject, of the primary school curriculum. They stressed "for the present". The €2.5 million that was allocated for that, which, as Deputy Martin stated, he started off in 1998, was reallocated to dealing with the national literacy and numeracy strategy, which is important as well for children who are challenged in that particular area. It is not an issue that is finalised for good. They specifically stated it is "for the present", while this matter is being reviewed.
The EU matters website, as I understand it, was launched in 2009 after the Lisbon treaty referendum. The information that was on that site was certainly relevant when it was set up, but it was never systematically reviewed and is now largely historical in nature. While the section dealing with European Union affairs has transferred from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the Department of the Taoiseach, that link was taken down. It is now being reviewed, both in the context of relevant information but also to look at the question of whether one should expand this with the other social interactions such as Facebook and Twitter which have been incorporated into the stabilitytreaty.ie website. That matter is under active review by the Department and I expect it to make a decision on this fairly soon.
Could the Taoiseach clarify what he means by the modern languages programme being reviewed? We export primarily to European Union countries. For example, Germany is our biggest market for pork and France is the biggest market for Irish seafood. It is important that there is capacity built up in society in European languages. All educators accept that the earlier one gets engaged with a subject the better, particularly in preschool and primary school. The earlier we introduce children to languages, the better the prospect of having ever greater numbers capable and competent in those languages by the time they come out of third level. Bord Bia, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland are looking for persons versed in these languages, who can speak them competently, with a view to advancing the sale of Irish products and services, and also winning investment into the country.
It defies logic that one would end the programme summarily as the Government has done. It makes no logical sense whatsoever for us, as an outgoing global economy and society that wants to cherish a global dynamic in terms of our engagement with the wider world. I ask the Taoiseach to review that Government decision. The NCCA can recommend various actions. We need not accept them all of the time. This programme was doing well for ten years and the evaluations of the programme were positive.
It would be a different matter if the professional evaluations of the programme were negative and indicated it had no impact, but they were, in fact, very positive. Now is the time to double up on our engagement with modern European languages and to include other languages such as Mandarin. I fully subscribe to that.
My final question relates to the website, www.eumatters.ie. The Taoiseach is correct in saying it was established after the referendum on the Lisbon treaty, the reason being to create a permanent infrastructure for the Government, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in particular, to communicate European matters to citizens. These matters were not only to do with treaties but also non-treaty issues - the general activity that happens at European level. It was born out of a perception, based on EU barometers over time, that citizens were becoming alienated from Europe or less engaged with it as a result of such issues as telephone roaming charges, agricultural practices or whatever and that there was an ongoing need to provide information on what was happening in the EU. If Departments are falling down in systematically inputting this type of information, that is an administrative issue that must be corrected, resourced and enhanced. Simply closing the website is not the correct answer. We are seeing the negative dividends of this day by day in terms of people’s interactions with and understanding of Europe and where it is heading into the future.
I am a major supporter of modern languages. The Deputy is correct that some organisations would say young people who qualify in three languages or more at university deserve special treatment in the sense there will always be opportunities for them. When I meet representatives of multinationals, especially where call offices are involved and some of which are seeking to employ groups of 300 or 400, there is always a demand for languages. The children of this country are as capable of learning multilinguistic functions and sounds as are any other children. It is a given that children are always challenged by new sounds, words and ways of communicating. The Minister for Education and Skills made his decision regarding the modern languages initiative, for the present, on the basis of the recommendation by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment to that effect. I have had many interactions with Deputy Martin, both as Gaeilge and as Béarla, about the way we teach our native language and how, because of particular difficulties or factors, many of our children cannot speak it after 12, 13 or 14 years. There are issues with teaching methods, teacher training and communication facilities. It is very easy to teach modern languages, however, and the methods involved have changed to an extraordinary degree in recent years. The Deputy will have heard over the years of people, 60 or 70 years ago, being able to communicate in Greek, for example, because of the presence of a particular teacher.
I will speak to the Minister for Education and Skills, who also has a clear interest in modern languages and communications, about the issue. As I said, it was a recommendation of the NCCA that the current situation be adopted for the present. The money that was formerly allocated for this purpose was put into the literacy and numeracy strategy. I give a guarantee to the House that I will review the matter. Some would argue the primary school curriculum is overloaded. I have spoken to junior certificate mathematics teachers whose pupils have difficulty with the basics of addition, subtraction, division and so on. It is a question of identifying priorities in the primary school system and deciding where modern languages fit into it. As I said, I am a supporter of modern languages. It is wonderful for young people, in a global situation that has changed utterly, to be able to travel and communicate freely. I was in Galway yesterday where Cisco is making a €26 million investment. Its capacity to communicate high definition data globally in real time is quite incredible. Most of the larger companies use the software that is designed for that purpose, and multilingual skills are vital in that regard.
In regard to the EU matters website, it was a good initiative but, unfortunately, it was not updated regularly. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade operates its own website in respect of international matters, while European matters are now handled through the European section of the Department of the Taoiseach. I have spoken to staff in that section about the importance of it being a vibrant, energetic, communicating website which deals not just with this treaty, as the Deputy observed, but with all the functions of the European Union - how it works and what it means for citizens - and provides access to information on all the relevant facilities of the Union. By enabling people to be properly engaged and to find information in a straightforward fashion, it will give them an understanding of what it is to be part of Europe. I will let the House know as progress is made on getting the website up and running.
Questions Nos. 1 and 2 are in the name of my colleague, Deputy Seán Crowe, the Sinn Féin spokesman on education. These questions were put to the Minister for Education and Skills but, for some reason that is beyond me, they were transferred to the Taoiseach. The reason Deputy Crowe tabled these questions is that he is concerned by the budget announcement of the ending of the modern languages initiative in primary schools. I entirely accept the Taoiseach's statement that he is very much in favour of modern languages. It struck me as I was preparing for this session that just last week we discussed in this House the importance of building trade links. Good work is being done in regard to China and, potentially, other parts of the world, including Vietnam and elsewhere in Asia. We are constantly discussing the importance of learning modern languages. Of the 1,000 jobs to be created by PayPal in Dundalk - a very welcome announcement - 50% will require applicants to have a working knowledge of an additional language.
In this context, setting aside the modern languages initiative makes no sense. Some 545 schools participated in the scheme, with pupils developing a very positive attitude towards language learning. The decision to cease funding for the initiative in the last budget was a retrograde step. France is our fifth largest trading partner, for instance, yet we are closing the opportunity for young people to learn French, as well as German, Spanish, Italian and Mandarin. I was with a delegation last week, one member of which was asked whether he had a working knowledge of Arabic. The Taoiseach knows better than I that in our globalised world it is no longer the exception but a necessity that people should have language skills.
I welcome the Taoiseach's indication this decision will be reviewed, but why was it taken in the first place? There is no suggestion the initiative was not successful and it is clearly a vital part of our efforts to come out of recession. What is the justification for introducing a new pilot scheme when what is in place is working? Although the Taoiseach has given a full answer, I ask him to indicate why a scheme that was working was terminated and replaced by something which seems, with all respect to the Blue Star programme, to be simply giving up on the opportunity for young people to learn modern languages.
The reason Deputy Crowe's questions came to me is they included a reference to the Blue Star programme. That programme is not meant to be a replacement for the pilot initiative for language learning. It is run by the Department of the Taoiseach, with very small funding I should say, with the aim of increasing awareness in schools of diversity and of what the European Union is, what it means, how it works and so on. It is not meant to be a pilot language scheme although, clearly, when we speak of different countries, there are connections with the language there. Deputy Crowe might wish to put down a specific question to the Minister for Education and Skills or to raise this as a topical issue.
I am interested in this area because it is an opportunity for real investment and real jobs. Speaking to the chief executive of PayPal, an extraordinary company, there are clearly opportunities for new languages and some old European languages. In such an industry, which is going to Dundalk, fluency in the language is a major issue, not just capacity to communicate but fluency to deal with issues that arise with products. From my experience, for those who learn a language, the extra edge of fluency is always obtained by undertaking a programme in the country in question. That is often the key to employment in companies like PayPal. People might be able to communicate and understand each other but fluency makes the difference between being able to market and sell and drive forward. That does not get away from the basic point that Irish children are as capable of learning four or five languages as any other children and they have proven that time and again - the children of diplomats or those who have occasion to move because their families are involved in business.
I will speak to the Minister for Education and Skills as we move along with this and review the position. If Deputies put down a question about the reasons why the National Council for Curriculum Assessment made its recommendation, the Minister will give a detailed response.
Is the Taoiseach aware of some of the vested interests?
I agree with everything the Taoiseach has said. Perhaps the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources will write that down as well. Everything the Taoiseach says, however, highlights how short-sighted it is to end the modern language initiative. Everything he says would act to encourage such initiatives as opposed to ending them. It would be illuminating if the Taoiseach could tell us why this scheme was ended.
Most schools will continue with this because of their capitation payments.
They will not.
They will; I can bring the Deputy to one tomorrow.
While the scheme was a worthwhile investment, there was a recommendation from the NCCA that it be discontinued for the present.
It was a budget decision.
An allocation of €2.5 million has gone into the numeracy strategy programme, which is brought to my attention by parents on a regular basis where children have difficulties. We had this before with resource teachers for children with special needs, where challenges might arise for children in any location around the country.
