More than 73,000 primary and secondary school students were exempt from learning Irish during the 2022-2024 academic years, according to figures reported by The Irish Times. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, Shane Coleman spoke with Rosie Bissett, CEO of Dyslexia Ireland, about why exemptions from the Irish language is increasingly being used and what that says about support in the education system.

Rosie Bissett said the issue is “absolutely way more complex” than it is often portrayed. 

She explained that for many students with dyslexia, the exemption has become “almost the only alternative” available when they are struggling significantly with the language due to a learning difficulty.

One of the core problems, she said, is a lack of teaching resources. 

“We don’t have the proper sort of resources, particularly around the teaching of phonics and the teaching of the code of Irish available in all schools,” she said. 

While phonics programmes are used in English, Bissett noted that “when we go into an Irish class in our schools there suddenly is no mention of this approach, and yet we know from the science that it is a fundamental part of the teaching of literacy.”

Children in a classroom raising their hands, Alamy

Bissett explained that the Irish language has greater “orthographic depth,” meaning it has a more complex relationship between letters and sounds than languages like Spanish or Italian. 

However, she emphasised that timing and support matter just as much.

“When you’re a young person with dyslexia and you are 7, 8, 9 and really struggling with literacy in your first language, an additional language at that point can be incredibly challenging,” she said. 

She added that strengthening English literacy first could leave students “in a better position to be able to take on an additional language” later on.

“There needs to be a real investment in Irish language research and resources,” she said, alongside better teacher training and access to learning support through Irish. 

While exemptions will still be necessary for some students, she argued they should be “part of a suite of support, not the only option.”