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

This is to do with trying to ensure An Garda Síochána does not fall foul of An Coimisinéir Teanga again. An Coimisinéir Teanga reported in 2011 that An Garda Síochána had breached the Garda Síochána Act 2005. He set out how it had done so and then monitored An Garda Síochána for a number of years afterwards until, upon getting frustrated, he submitted a report to the Oireachtas in 2020 explaining how An Garda Síochána had not acted or had ignored the recommendations that were made to allow or to help it be in compliance with the Garda Síochána Act 200vis-à-visthe Gaeltacht areas. We have had a number of engagements in my role as Chair of the Oireachtas committee during Covid-19. It was interesting. It was in the Dáil Chamber that we had an exchange with Coimisinéir an Gharda Síochána, other members and also then subsequently with officials from the Department, on how we ensure An Garda Síochána is delivering the service it is intended to deliver in the Gaeltacht area without transgressing on the language rights of those in that area. That cannot be done at the moment because there is not, according to Coimisinéir an Gharda Síochána, enough gardaí with sufficient fluency in the Irish language. The intention of this amendment and amendments Nos. 7 and 33, which are related and which have been ruled out of order, was to try to ensure there was urgency in An Garda Síochána to address that and that there was a recruitment target of 20% set now. The 20% target is already set by Acht na dTeangacha Oifigiúla (Leasú), 2021, to be achieved by a deadline of 2030. It is not in 2030 that 20% applies. By that stage, all Departments and not just the Department of Justice or An Garda Síochána will fall under this.

In these amendments, we were trying to bring that forward again to try to focus on the urgent need to specifically recruit. One of the things I found during that debate was when I asked Coimisinéir an Gharda Síochána, or it may have been an Coimisinéir Cúnta or the assistant commissioner, whether there had been a specific recruitment campaign targeted at Irish language secondary schools or at university graduates, I was told there had not been. I found this bizarre but maybe things have moved since 2021 when we had the debate, though I do not think so. That is the only way to achieve that level. Either that, or we have to upskill those in An Garda Síochána. Some 20% of all recruits means that one is only getting recruits in with Irish skills. That does not address the shortfalls in cigirí and sáirsint and other levels. There is an internal aspect to ensuring that the Irish language service of An Garda Síochána can be delivered. There is an upskilling needed but also recruitment. To date, I have not seen an urgency in that and that is why we are suggesting that targets be set ahead of the official targets for other Departments given that in some parts of the Gaeltacht areas there is no service at all available as Gaeilge. There are people stationed there who have little or not fluency in the Irish language. That is especially so given that in recent years the mandatory Irish language component of those who are joining An Garda Síochána as trainees has all but disappeared. That is regrettable as well and may be a debate for another day. At least in the past there was some semblance that somebody joining An Garda Síochána, if placed in a Gaeltacht area, could understand even the basics of Irish language conversation and maybe deliver some type of service. At the moment, that is not the case.

I know from those within An Garda Síochána that there is a difficulty in attracting gardaí with fluency in the Irish language to move to the west coast if they are born and bred in Dublin. A stipend or an allowance was available in the past. I am not sure whether it exists now if gardaí are moved to serve in Gaeltacht areas. Those are the type of incentives needed. It is not to give incentive or to add funding to the pockets of gardaí. However, sometimes if there is a problem, it can be addressed by an allowance or a benefit such as if a garda serves three years in a Gaeltacht area, he or she could benefit by it being recognised as four years service. There are different ways to try to encourage people to serve. I think any garda, looking at what they would gain from being stationed in parts of Gaeltacht areas, would gain a lot more experience than in some of the stations elsewhere. It would also help to show young gardaí, or those who are being recruited, that there is a career path. A career was there in the past because gardaí had to have Irish to qualify as a sergeant. That has disappeared now. There was a benefit and now there is not a specific benefit for those who are joining other than that they are joining the force like anybody else. The Minister may be able to look at my attempts, which fell foul of the rules, to see whether through legislation or by encouraging the management of An Garda Síochána, that this can be addressed. They need to address it quickly. Otherwise, we will be starting with a position where the Irish language service within An Garda Síochána will all have collapsed following the retirement of quite a number of gardaí in Gaeltacht areas who are of, or nearing, retirement age and then that situation becomes even worse than it is at the moment.