The Welsh language is without doubt a fantastic asset for all the people of Wales.
I am proud that it was the Conservative Party's Welsh Language Act in 1993 that created the framework for the establishment of the Welsh Language Board and first placed Welsh on an equal footing with English.
The language has certainly come a long way since then. But although the statistics may well point to an increase in the number of Welsh speakers, this must not be allowed to hide the fact that there is an ongoing decline in spoken, community-based Welsh.
Education is definitely a key tool in ensuring the future survival and development of the language, but this is an oversimplification of the situation. We need to make sure that there is an increase in the use of the language not just in the classroom, but beyond.
Children should be given a better grounding in Welsh in their early, formative years, at a time when they are far more likely to accept it as a language of everyday use.
It is simply too late to try to instil the language in them in later life when they are past the optimum language-acquiring age.
Learning cannot happen without teaching and teaching cannot take place without teachers. This is why the severe shortage of Welsh language teachers across Wales is a cause of very real concern which needs to be addressed urgently.
The current Assembly Government is simply not doing enough to ensure that the beautiful and ancient language of Wales is sustainable in the long-term. We must take action to ensure that Welsh is taught in a way that ensures it survives and flourishes as a working language in communities the length and breadth of our country, for generations to come.
