Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I will come back to the Deputy’s original question. We do not know exactly and we do not have clarity from the people who applied as to why they did so, but perhaps the new strategy itself is a signal to members who are applying that there is a Gaeltacht strategy or an Irish-language strategy within An Garda Síochána with a real focus now, and that there is a plan for Irish speakers. There has been communication - members of the force went on Raidió na Gaeltachta and on other radio stations as part of a communications campaign. It is very hard to tell but there are a number of possible ways in which people were encouraged in which they may not have been before.

Within the Department, currently we have five members of our staff who are currently undertaking Irish-language courses. These will finish shortly. Since 2019, some 39 staff have been supported through the various courses, 24 of whom have progressed through multiple levels of training. We are not as big a Department as some of the other large Departments so that is a good figure, but obviously we could improve on it.

In our Irish-language scheme, we have published the official Irish version of the 1986, 1997 and 2001 consolidations of the rules of the superior courts. We are making progress to ensure that work is done not just in our teams within the Department but also in the areas which we govern, in particular around the courts, and that translation work is done there. The Department has a panel of officials who are always available to answer queries in Irish. They are given specifically designated badges or are highlighted.

In respect of the other services that we provide through Irish, other than the rules of the courts which I have mentioned which have been translated recently, the fact that we do not provide services directly to the public means that we do not have a whole suite of teams that one, perhaps, might also find in other Departments.

It is about making sure that we can deal with the State agencies we work with directly in Irish and that we can respond in Irish. We also want to ensure we can respond in Irish when dealing with the Oireachtas. However, we may not have the same levels as other Departments that have that face-to-face element.