Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am aware of some of the concerns that have informed this debate and the amendment being discussed and we can return to this on Report Stage if necessary. There will be no change in the constituency of Donegal, where there is already a very large Gaeltacht area. There will be Gaeltacht areas within the enlarged Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim ETB and Kerry can be included here also. It seems obvious that where someone is looking for a job in an area which includes a Gaeltacht area then fluency, or at least competence, in the Irish language would be an automatic requirement. However, I would sooner not enshrine that in primary legislation, which gives it a certain degree of rigidity. Compliance with the 20-year strategy and the fact that the VECs and the new ETBs are public bodies is sufficient. There would be an interview process for applicants for any job in those areas where there is a Gaeltacht and therefore, being able to conduct business as Gaeilge would be an automatic requirement. I would prefer to leave that to the interview process rather than insert it into primary legislation because the legal obligations are already set out in the 20-year strategy.