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

I move amendment No. 52:

In page 22, line 28, after "education" to insert ", including Irish medium higher education,".

This section deals with the corporate plan of an tÚdarás um Ard-Oideachas. Amendment No. 52 seeks to include a specific reference to Irish-medium higher education. Section 20 provides that the corporate plan of an túdarás shall include its "objectives, outputs and related strategies for higher education". We want to ensure Irish-medium education is included in that.

Amendment No. 53 proposes that after "Minister" on page 23, line 18, a reference to the Minister with responsibility for the Irish language, who is the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, be included. This is to ensure the latter has a role in the corporate plan as it pertains to Irish-medium higher education, especially in respect of Gaeltacht areas.

Amendment No. 54 relates to section 21, which deals with the annual plan of an túdarás. Our amendment seeks to ensure the plan includes specific performance targets, and information on the progress of those targets, for actively promoting the use of the Irish language as a medium for higher education, details of the allocation of resources to Irish-medium higher education and so on. Setting out annual targets is a way of ensuring delivery. Without those targets, the yardstick is missing and an túdarás cannot be held to account in this regard. Some of what we are proposing here probably will be reflected in some ways under the Official Languages Act, but this provision is specific to the annual plan and seeks to ensure an túdarás does not just do the minimum that is required under the Act but that it does, in fact, reflect the successes or failures of its policies in this area in its annual plan.