The number of students given exemptions from studying Irish, has increased by 50 per cent in 10 years.
A new ESRI report - seen by the Irish Times - shows that 32 thousand students were granted exemptions from Irish during 2014, up from 20 thousand in 2004.
19 thousand students were exempted because of a disability in 2014 - mostly for emotional or behavioural difficulites.
The research shows that boys are more likely to have an exemption, than girls.
