When Joe Carroll’s son, Eoghan, was diagnosed with dyslexia, one of the first things he was told after the assessment was that he could get an exemption from Irish.
His “visceral reaction” was to question: “Why is that the default? Why isn’t more support the default position?” he says.
Despite the exemption being raised as an option from the psychologist, Carroll says his instinct was to let his son continue with the subject and assess his needs as he progresses, rather than “whip it away from him”.
“I thought it seemed unfair to take something that is part of his identity away from him pre-emptively,” he says.
Feedback provided recently in a parent-teacher meeting outlined how nine-year-old Eoghan, now in third class, is “doing really well”.
“The only thing mentioned really was his Irish spellings, he’s kind of getting six out of 10,” Carroll says, though describing his son’s overall progress with the support of his school as “remarkable”.
The father-of-three from Bree, Co Wexford, says Eoghan’s school has been “very supportive”, and had already been providing additional support before his diagnosis two years ago, which has seen him come on “leaps and bounds”.
Noting that it is still “early days”, Carroll does not rule out the possibility of availing of an exemption in the future for Eoghan, but argues such a situation should not be automatic following a diagnosis, depending on a child’s ability.
“There is that sense of Irish not being all that important, so you can opt out,” he says, believing it is often the “first thought” for many children diagnosed with learning disabilities.
He recognises, however, that Eoghan’s experience differs to that of many children who receive such a diagnosis.
In the 2024-2025 academic year, 73,077 students across primary and post-primary level held exemptions from Irish.
Of the 12,131 primary school students involved, 11,756 were exempt on the basis of an additional need, and 375 on the basis of coming from abroad.
At post-primary level, one in seven students – a total of 60,946 – had an exemption. Of these, 37,974 had an additional need, while the remaining 22,972 were exempt due to coming from abroad.
[ The debate: Are Irish language exemptions given out too freely?Opens in new window ]
The Department of Education, which earlier this year published a new policy document aimed at promoting Irish language in schools, said the number of exemptions should be seen in the “broader context” of a rising school population at post-primary level. This increased by 17 per cent from 362,899 in 2018 to 425,411 in the last school year, including 56,555 students from abroad.
This is alongside 28,000 students enrolled in special classes and special schools last year, it said.
“An exemption from Irish does nothing to actively support students’ learning need and denies the student access to an important part of their culture. It gives them the message that there are things they cannot do, due to their learning need,” says Prof Pádraig Ó Duibhir, chair of the gaelscoil patron body An Foras Patrúnachta and former head of Sealbhú, the Irish language unit at Dublin City University that has advised government on education policy.
He points to the 71 per cent increase in the number of students awarded an exemption due to a learning disability at post-primary level since the department introduced a new system in 2019.
The new criteria meant students with additional needs or learning disabilities no longer required a psychologist’s report.
Since then, the number of exemptions granted by school principals due to a learning disability at post-primary increased from 6,025 in 2019 to 10,301 last year.
He notes that the primary language curriculum (PLC) is designed to be taught in an inclusive way that meets the needs of all learners, with an emphasis on listening and speaking skills for Irish in particular, which would cater to students with dyslexia.
“The challenge for teachers is to adapt their teaching rather than exempt the students,” he says.
The PLC was implemented for all classes in primary schools from September 2019, but there has been a “limited enactment” of the curriculum to date, according to the Department of Education inspectorate’s annual report for 2024.
The report also states that overall standards of teachers’ Irish-language fluency in English-medium schools “are not what they should be to support the successful enactment of the PLC”.
A separate contributory issue is that learning support is often provided to those with dyslexia during Irish-teaching time, meaning parents are left with a choice between learning Irish and receiving additional support.
Prof Ó Duibhir says he is “particularly concerned” that this practice is “even more prevalent” at post-primary level, where schools struggle to timetable learning support outside of Irish time, adding that parents have reported needing exemptions from Irish to avail of such support.
This has a knock-on effect at primary level including at Irish-medium schools, according to Bláthnaid Ní Ghréacháin, chief executive of Gaeloideachas, which supports the development of Irish-medium schools.
[ Is Catherine Connolly’s plan to make Irish the language of the Áras a good idea?Opens in new window ]
As exemptions are not granted in Irish-medium schools, she says parents are removing their children in order to avail of an exemption in English-medium schools in preparation for post-primary level.
“No parent is going to deny their child the opportunity to have additional support if they need it,” she says.
She believes a “clear instruction” from the Department of Education is needed to prohibit the provision of learning support during Irish classes only.
Ms Ní Ghréacháin says the current system “makes the assumption” that children with dyslexia are better placed in seeking an exemption.
“I can’t emphasise enough how much exemptions are damaging the status of the Irish language for a start, but also the perception of the Irish language being a language that is available and that should be available to all children of all needs,” she says.
Rosie Bissett, chief executive of Dyslexia Ireland, agrees that the timetabling issue is a “particular challenge”, one that is showing up “even more at second level”.
“I think we also have to consider this in the light of the pressures on staffing in schools,” she says, noting that special education teachers are often pulled into mainstream classes due to shortages.
Schools that have capacity to be more flexible provide support in-class or are spread out across different subjects, meaning students such as Eoghan can carry on learning Irish.
However, she says Dyslexia Ireland hears more from parents whose children find Irish “hugely challenging” due to the way it’s taught.
“In terms of the exemption, I suppose the reality for most people at the moment, it’s the only option,” she says.
Ms Bissett says the introduction of a level of Irish that is mandatory and focuses on culture, and oral and aural skills, could accommodate dyslexic students throughout primary and post-primary level in a “low-pressure” environment.
Another possible intervention, which has long been called for by groups such as Gaeloideachas and Conradh na Gaeilge, is the implementation of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Such advocacy groups believe this model, which organises language proficiency into six levels, from beginner to advanced, would reduce exemptions and cater to both those with additional learning needs and students coming from abroad.
Prof Ó Duibhir agrees this would be a “very positive move”, allowing students of all abilities to see progress on their language journey.
He remarks how he frequently meets adults who say they were “denied” the opportunity to learn Irish in school.
“They are angry about it now,” he says, adding that some educators hold the view that an exemption will remove pressure from a child with an additional need.
“They don’t consider the longer-term impact, and that the emerging research shows that exemptions are only denying learning opportunities rather than supporting the student,” he says.