Irish language:Dublin South East delegate Aidan Powell suggested a fast-track planning system for schools. He said that every school being built should be designated a strategic development zone.
"This would obviate the need for going before the planning permission process and engaging in sometimes unnecessary delays."
Urging the development of teaching of the Irish language, Eamonn Walsh (Dublin South Central) quoted Thomas Davis who once said that to lose one's native tongue was the worst badge of conquest and the shame of the soul.
He said that one of the party's core aims was the restoration of the Irish language as the principle medium of communication.
"Successive governments, over the years, paid lip service to this core aim. Valiant and very effective efforts have been made by Eamon Ó Cuív with the introduction of the Official Languages Act and the Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, has announced plans to reform the Irish language syllabus to put greater emphasis on the spoken word. I salute them all on that."
He said, however, that "despite these advances in policy, the Irish language is still in peril of extinction. The language needs a root and branch reform. Teaching standards have deteriorated considerably".
Mr Walsh said he believed teachers had not been given the opportunity to learn the language properly, and therefore lacked the confidence to teach Irish in the primary schools.
