Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is complicated having to jump around to the different amendments. We finished the meeting last night speaking on amendment No. 9. I will try to stick to the ones we are dealing with now and maybe come back to the ones we have skipped over.

In the main, we have been talking about the language impact assessment. A lot of people would presume the best place for this provision would be in an Acht Teanga, an Acht Gaeltachtaí or whatnot. This is a planning Bill. It is important that we do not have enactments that will endanger Gaeltacht areas. As I said yesterday, if a Gaeltacht village switches to English, it is no longer a Gaeltacht area, although it might still be within the boundaries of the larger area. The difficulty of re-establishing that Gaeltacht village is immense. The danger if we put in a development that has no regard to any impact on the language of that area is that we could end up with ten households that are English speaking in a village of 30 houses. We can immediately guess the impact that would have on the day-to-day vernacular of the community. That is the danger and it cannot be overstated.

The purpose of all the amendments to do with the Irish language that I and others have submitted is to find protections within planning laws for identified areas in which the Irish language is still strong enough to be the day-to-day language of those communities. The Irish language is under huge pressure day in, day out, because the language of the media is English, the world is a smaller place in many ways and people who emigrated are returning without the same fluency they had before. There is not enough State effort going into putting in place mechanisms or supports to ensure families can and will rear their families through Irish and attend the local schools and clubs as Gaeilge. I am not making up these difficulties. We know that in different parts of the country, planning applications were made and granted and when people moved in, there was a change in how people spoke. Then, all of sudden, there is a need to work with the new families to try to change the language they speak. In some cases, people had no interest in switching. We are in a housing crisis. People will buy or move into houses where they can afford to do so. If that happens to be in a Gaeltacht, that is what will happen. If a new housing estate is built in which the houses are cheaper than those two miles down the road in Galway city, say, people might move there without a by your leave to the language of the area.

Many people who would seek to live in Gaeltacht areas are Irish speakers who live in cities. For one reason or another, they cannot live in Gaeltacht areas. There are many people within the Gaeltacht who cannot live in those areas either. The language impact assessment would take into account how vulnerable those communities are. In recent years, successive Governments have accepted that there is a crisis in respect of Gaeltacht areas. In my view and the view of most, if not all, of the Irish language organisations and the communities in Gaeltacht areas, the current Government has not done enough. The fact that there is an acceptance on the part of the State that Gaeltacht areas are an exception is why we are seeking a linguistic impact assessment and, in other cases, a language test, in order to ensure that any development happening in the Gaeltacht will be in tune with what is happening in the areas in question. It is the same as if we were looking for environmental impact assessments in order not to do damage to the environment. We are talking here about a linguistic environment, and we are trying to protect it via our planning laws.

In the future, we will hopefully not need to rely on what is proposed because things will be different. There are currently many laws that are not required but that provide protections and can be alluded to if a question arises. Yesterday, I mentioned one of the planning applications that was rejected. The question in the context of the Irish language was "Can you speak Irish?" but it was posed in English. There was no question about the level of Irish or if the person could prove it or anything else. There is nothing there like that. As a result, anyone could reply "Yes" to the question. People can say they speak English. However, a range of questions arise as to their ability in this regard, whether they can speak the language intelligently and with fluency and if they have a vocabulary. I am referring to the B2 test I highlighted yesterday. In this case, the assessment would have to take into account the most recent census information as to the use of the Irish language locally, the nature of the development and whether it is going to attract Irish speakers to stay in their local areas. Is there work associated with it, for example? Deputy Ó Broin spoke of a new school opening in an area and Irish language teachers seeking to return. In some areas, there is a benefit. I refer, for example, to TG4 broadcasting from Ring. People have moved into Gaeltacht areas because the work is there for them, such as with TG4 or other organisations. That is a good thing. This can be part of any conditions proposed as part of an application.

Deputy Ó Broin mentioned the rural housing guidelines. The Gaeltacht housing guidelines have not been published by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, despite his promise to me three and a half years ago that they would be published. They have bounced back and forth between his Department and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. One Department says "Yes, the guidelines are coming" and the other one says "It is their fault it is not ready". If they had been published, those guidelines would help to frame what percentage of a development has to be retained. If a development of 100 houses is put in place and 70 of the households there are English-speaking, then only 30% are Irish-speaking. That would have a major effect. If it is two households and one is Irish-speaking and one is English-speaking, that might have the same effect. However, I cannot say so from this distance because I do not know where it is located. Local needs and the effect of the development on a locality must be taken into account.

The Minister of State said that some of the amendments are vague in places. As with other amendments, Deputy Ó Broin and I said that maybe we were wrong and perhaps they would be looked upon favourably. We are happy to work with the Minister of State and the officials in trying to come up with a better formula of words. We are not precious about the list of words or the way they are put. The key thing is the effect whereby the legislation, when it comes into force, will provide the protections we are seeking. I could not care less what formula of words is used so long as it has the effect of protecting the linguistic jewel we have in Gaeltacht areas and it allows those who speak the Irish language in such areas and who wish to stay there can build homes. This is about trying, through legislation, to ensure that Gaeltacht areas can flourish in the future. The main matters I am dealing with relate to amendments Nos. 603, 623, and 683.