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

I move amendment No. 27:

In page 27, line 31, after “information” to insert “equally in both official languages”.

Amendments Nos. 27 and 31 have to do with information being published equally in the official languages. English is recognised as an official language and Irish is the national language and an official language. The amendments seek to ensure that material will be published in the Irish language only or bilingually. Being practical I presume that in the vast majority of cases it will be done bilingually but in Gaeltacht areas it should be in the Irish language only unless requested in English.

Amendments Nos. 40 and 42 deal with the titles of constituencies and are a recognition that in the past, the State had a view of using the Irish language first and in most cases the Irish-language names of the constituencies make more sense than the English names of the constituencies, which bear no relationship with any of the areas they reflect. Amendment No. 45 is to do with the titles of constituencies and local electoral areas and seeks to ensure that they are in the Irish language first or only and then in English afterwards if so required, rather than just in the English language as happens in most cases.

Amendment No. 50 seeks to ensure that the programmes are in both languages equally. Sometimes in the past an abbreviation of a document or report has been provided as Gaeilge rather than it being of equal length or size. It is seeking that the equality that is reflected in the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021 also be reflected in the publications from the commission or on electoral issues.