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

I am not sure what the accent is; maybe Roscommon. The Deputy made a point about Letterkenny and this is a Garda station that will be a service station and a training station. Those who are going to Letterkenny will have an opportunity to learn their essential policing skills and to make use of their Irish-language skills, which is welcome and the Deputy has been passionate about making sure that happens. It is important those who are not fluent Irish speakers and who go into An Garda Síochána always have an opportunity to improve, learn and become Irish speakers where they are not at all, and that is where the Irish-language strategy comes into play. It is about encouraging more people who can speak fluently, who can teach others and who can converse with the public, be it on the ground, in our communities, going to courts or in other areas. There must be continuous ways in which people can improve, with online learning being an option, and that is something the Commissioner and the Garda are making available to people. At the same time, you cannot beat face-to-face physical contact and conversation and it is important those options are available to people.

Thinking ahead, there is an option or an opportunity as we develop our community safety partnerships . There are three pilots under way in Dublin inner city, Waterford and Longford, and this is about making sure communities feel safe and take charge of the policing and safety plans in their areas. Where these expand beyond the pilot areas, members of the Gaeltacht areas would potentially be included in these community safety partnerships. They could work closely with the Garda and other members of the group to make sure people in Gaeltacht areas are supported in the same way as everybody else through the Irish language. It is about making sure it is incorporated into every aspect of the work An Garda Síochána is doing and spreading it out into the community as well.