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

I move amendment No. 60:

In page 42, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following:

“(7) Where the Minister proposes to make regulations under this section that relate to developments in a Gaeltacht area, he or she shall, before making the regulations,consult with the Minister for the Gaeltacht, the board of Údarás na Gaeltachta, and Oifig an Choimisinéara Teanga in relation to the proposed regulations.”.

This is a group of more than 20 Sinn Féin amendments that aim to put the Gaeltacht communities at the heart of the planning process. Last week, it was reported in Tuairisc that the Department of the Gaeltacht met Bánú, we had that conversation, and it is happy with some of the proposals at least. That does not mean I am happy because I have not seen the proposals the Minister of State made. I indicated at the time that while the proposals were welcome, they did not address the intent of some of our amendments that we had discussed already.

Amendments Nos. 60, 163 and 185 aim to address the regulations and plans affecting developments in Gaeltacht areas and that they should be made after consulting relevant bodies. Some of this we discussed last week when we were suggesting that it should be stated that the Gaeltacht Minister, the board of Údarás na Gaeltachta and the language commissioner’s office. Last week the Minister of State said he would look at Údarás being included where consultation is engaged in and that Gaeltacht Ministers were a given in these circumstances because a Minister for housing is working as a collective. The final one is the language commissioner’s office. It might be worth finding out whether the position of language commissioner is appropriate at this stage or whether the language commissioner would have a role at a later stage. Then I would be happy to look at this amendment again.

Amendment No. 1134 also requires that any review conducted should be sent to Údarás na Gaeltachta as the primary body responsible. There is a whole load of other amendments here. Amendments Nos 138, 140 and 158 set out to ensure protection and promotion of the use of Irish in the Gaeltacht and beyond and that this be a central remit of the national planning framework and that it be an objective when identifying national strategic development objectives and requirements. Conradh na Gaelige, which submitted amendments along these lines, made the point that the Minister’s guidelines pursuant to section 28 of the existing Act are strong in relation to the Gaeltacht but they are not being enforced in development plans at present. There is a significant difference in policy between various local authorities in the context of housing and the Gaeltacht. That goes back to a point I made previously that the CEOs of the councils that have Gaeltacht areas in their bailiwicks have appealed for some clarity in this. Again, we have discussed the guidelines that have been long promised. I discussed this with the Minister of State yesterday and, again, he promised they would be out one way or another by the end of April. People will appreciate that, but it does not negate the fact that we need this insurance included in the legislation before us. That is the intention behind these three amendments.

Amendment No 174 would ensure that the national planning framework has with regard to the language plans in place in Gaeltacht language planning areas, Gaeltacht service towns and the líonra Gaelige as agreed under the Gaeltacht Act 2012.

Amendment No. 147 provides specific recognition for Gaeltacht settlement patterns. This is already discussed in respect of Amendment No. 30 in Deputy O’Callaghan's name. It is strange it was not grouped at that stage. We have had a long debate on this. We can go back over some of it. The key feature is that Gaeltacht settlements are the way. We had a discussion as to whether that can be recognised and how the houses are clustered and the different patters of growth. I will not rehearse that whole debate again today because otherwise the Chair will be giving out to me again.