Education Minister Mary Hanafin recently sent a letter to schools, parents' organisations and teachers' unions seeking consultation and proposals, to be submitted by the April 30, about putting the primary school curriculum on a statutory basis.

On writing to Minister Hanafin, seeking clarification on the contents of the letter, Sinn Féin Education Spokesperson, Senator Pearse Doherty, was shocked to hear that regulations would come into effect on May 1.

If this was the case, Senator Doherty said, the Minister could only be paying lip service to consultation as there would not be enough time to take into account submissions made in late April.

"It has come to my attention that the Minister has sent out letters seeking consultation and proposals from teachers, parents and teacher unions around putting the primary school curriculum on a statutory footing. Submissions must be returned to the Department no later than 30 April 2008.

"However, the heads of the Education (Primary Curriculum) Regulations 2008 state that the regulations will come into operation on the following day, 1 May. This absolutely does not leave enough time to actually study submissions and take them into account.

“I have written to the Minister and asked for her clarification on this matter. If this actually is the way she intends to proceed, then it is clear that she is merely paying lip service to the idea of consultation and is determined to push ahead in the manner in which she alone deems appropriate. This shows a high level of disrespect and ignorance.

"The Minister is determined to push ahead with her plans to end the practice of Irish Language immersion in Irish Language schools and she intends to put this, along with the rest of the curriculum, on a statutory footing making it illegal for Gaelscoileanna not to comply.

"This is unacceptable as there is no evidence that Irish Language immersion at an early age adversely affects the development or learning ability of children. In fact, quite the opposite is true.

"Children who learn through the medium of Irish at an early age have shown that they can go on and achieve high standards of education in more senior years and actually find it easier to learn foreign languages such as French and German.

"I am calling on the Minister to withdraw her proposals to end Irish Language immersion in Gaelscoileanna and to engage positively and genuinely with teachers, parents, unions, politicians and all other interest groups. She must also ensure that she allows herself adequate time to take all views into account."