ONLY 8 PER cent of Irish secondary school pupils learn two or more languages compared to a European average of more than 60 per cent, according to statistics released by the European Union.
Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, found almost one in five secondary pupils do not learn any foreign language in Ireland
Figures released by the Department of Education said only 15 per cent of primary schools had access to modern languages.
Eurostat found the highest proportions of students studying two or more foreign languages were in the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Finland.
Only 8 per cent of students in Ireland studied two or more foreign languages while 19 per cent studied none at all.
Only the UK showed lower figures, with 51 per cent of students there not studying any foreign language.
Labour Party spokesman on education and science Ruairí Quinn said the statistics were shocking but not surprising.
He said the cutbacks made by Minister for Education and Science Batt O'Keeffe would make the situation even worse.
"Every other European country places an important emphasis on the learning of foreign languages. They all understand that having a population fluent in second and third languages gives them an economic advantage," he said.
"At a time of economic recession, Ireland should be focusing its efforts on language teaching."
At primary level, only 15 per cent of schools have access to foreign languages.
In response to a question tabled by Fine Gael education spokesman Brian Hayes, Mr O'Keeffe said modern European languages were taught in 505 primary schools as part of the modern languages in primary school initiative introduced in 1998.
Mr Hayes said the Government was in breach of its commitment under the Barcelona Agreement, signed in 2002, that all primary school students would have the opportunity to learn a modern language in fifth or sixth class by 2010.
"A small investment in this area could yield huge results," he said.
Mr Hayes called on Mr O'Keeffe to honour the Government's commitments and to work to develop a modern language in all primary schools by 2010.
A spokeswoman from the Department of Education said the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment had recommended against a further expansion of the primary modern languages initiative on the basis of "curriculum overload and difficulties relating to the replicability of the current model across the system".
Other problems included funding of teacher costs; teacher training in higher education; teacher supply; curriculum; texts and materials, and assessment, the spokeswoman said.
