Mr. Tim Lucey:

Seeing as we are in public session I think we should read the recommendations into the record. I will come back to what I view as the three more important ones that underpin everything.

The first recommendation is formalisation of membership and terms of reference for the working group on Gaeltacht planning matters, which was referred to earlier and was established earlier this year by the Departments of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Further work is needed on that. As Mr. Walsh said, having that in place would be of significant value to local government and national Departments in order to work through these matters.

Second is the introduction of statutory guidelines by the Minister under section 28 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 to specifically address housing and physical planning policy in Gaeltacht areas, as well as mechanisms for the implementation and enforcement of such policies. That is critical because it is the basis upon which we can then take those guidelines at a local level and structure them in a manner that reflects the issues that are facing the various Gaeltacht areas, both commonly across the country and at a local level. Without those, we do not have a basis for either a common approach of any nature or for an individual approach to the matters that are most particular to our two Gaeltacht areas here in Cork, or specific Gaeltacht areas in other counties.

Third, consideration should be given to the preparation of statutory local area plans for all Gaeltacht areas by local authorities, in consultation with the local communities and the relevant national agencies, such as Údarás na Gaeltachta. That would certainly be of benefit. It is a further manifestation of the local importance and local expression at a deeper level of what is important or intrinsic to a Gaeltacht area in a local area plan.

The fourth recommendation, which has been referred to, is for the use by all local authorities of a national certified method to assess linguistic competency.

Fifth is the introduction of national standards and guidelines regarding linguistic impact statements.

The sixth and seventh recommendations, in conjunction with the second, are critical. One could argue that there is no point in having a national certified method to assist linguistic competency, or national standards and guidelines regarding linguistic impact statements, unless the legality of applying them in some way is assured. We recommend the introduction of specific provisions in the social housing legislation that would allow for the prioritisation of Irish speakers in the allocation of social housing in Gaeltacht areas. On the planning side of things, we recommend that clarity be sought from the Office of the Attorney General on the constitutionality and legal enforceability of conditions of that nature relating to the ability of occupants of certain properties to speak the Irish language. Without those two critical things being clarified in legal terms, we will have difficulty in applying things that are not enforceable. A non-enforceable condition is a worthless one.

The final recommendation relates to affordability issues, to which Mr. Walsh has referred. We recommend the introduction of specific affordability measures in Gaeltacht areas. We recognise that there is an affordable housing scheme and a strong commitment from Government to affordable housing but perhaps there could be a further definition of that for Gaeltacht areas. Recommendations 2, 6 and 7 are the key ones that can enable local government to assist, in a more structured way, the sustainability of our Gaeltacht areas.

I would like to clarify one thing regarding the matters Deputy Moynihan raised. There is no question of any disadvantage in any way for native Irish speakers or those from Gaeltacht areas in getting planning permission in those areas. In fact, it is of benefit to have rural planning policies that recognise intrinsic cultural, language and social links to a local rural area. That is of advantage to those who are in the area, as opposed to being a disadvantage.

On the mapping issue, we are on our final amendments to our draft development plan and we will be publishing that in early January. As stated in the appendix to our submission, we will be mapping the two Gaeltacht areas in Cork county. It is important to note that while they might not be mapped in the hard copy of the development plan at the moment, the mapping of all the Gaeltacht areas appears in our geographic information system, GIS, which is what we use for development management purposes and assessing planning applications.