Mr. Julian de Spáinn:

Tabharfaidh mé roinnt freagraí don Seanadóir Mullen agus b’fhéidir go mbeidh Pádraig nó Niall ag iarraidh teacht isteach. An rud is bunúsaí a táimid ag breathnú air anseo – agus luadh é ag Eimear, Niall agus duine nó beirt eile – ná nach bhfuilimid ag lorg rud éigin nach bhfuil ar fáil ar na hoileáin seo ar fad. Rinne Pádraig an-cur síos ar chúrsaí sa Bhreatain Beag, in Albain agus ó Dheas in Éirinn. Tá cosaintí sna tíortha sin don teanga agus don duine atá ag iarraidh an Ghaeilge a úsáid. We have protections, services and means of using the language officially on the islands, apart from in the North of Ireland. That is essentially what we want to do. For young people learning or interested in the language, who may not have the hang-ups of the past, caithfear a chur in iúl dóibh agus a chur trasna dóibh go bhfuil stádas ann ag an teanga. The first thing is status for the language so that it is official and they can officially use it. The legislation will help with status and with service provision.

The second part of céard atá ag taisteál uainn and what we are looking for is the strategy. The strategy will be key in providing those services and promoting the language more in the future. That needs to be taken on board as well. It is not just a matter of legislation but strategy too. We have strategies to promote Irish in the South as is done for Welsh in Wales. Wales has a target to meet 1 million speakers at present. One can see proactive and worthwhile things happening. Young people are enthused about the language. The authorities, young people and schools are all working together to promote the language and making sure that everybody who wants to use the language gets an opportunity to. In the North at the moment, there is no official recognition with the legislation and there is no strategy, but both have been promised for over 15 years. One can imagine why anybody in the community, atá ar scoil nó atá ag iarraidh an Ghaeilge a úsáid, can become cynical about the operation of politics when that cannot be achieved after 15 years of promise. They see, again and again, na tíortha eile ag dul chun cinn, the other countries moving forward while they are being left behind. Sin an rud a táimid ag iarraidh a bhaint amach leis seo.