Mr. Julian de Spáinn:

Gabhaim mo bhuíochas leis an gcoimisinéir. Is there simultaneous translation? As I have a few words of English, we will be okay.

I thank the commissioner for her informative speech. We in Ireland have learned much from Wales during the years and must learn more in the future. Ms Huws has compared herself to an infant, given that the Office of the Irish Language Commissioner was established before the Welsh one. Having recently had a baby, I am hearing terminology about growth spurts. I think the Welsh language commissioner may have spurted into the teenage years and left us behind as toddlers. Wales has examined exactly what the language commissioner should do and what powers she should have. The first thing Ms Huws mentioned was integrating the language into the mainstream, which does not seem to be part of the Irish Language Commissioner's role. For example, in Wales any new Bill or policy must be brought before the Welsh language commissioner who can make recommendations which the relevant Minister or authority must take into account while developing the Bill or policy. This does not happen in Ireland and is not mentioned in the heads of Bills. This issue must be addressed clearly and quickly.

Ms Huws also mentioned workplace skills. In Wales much of the talk is about how to bring the language into the private sector, not only the public sector. In Ireland we are very much at the point of the public sector. Although there was recently a Government initiative to ensure 6% of new entrants into the Civil Service would have a command of the Irish language, we know from the figures provided by the Irish Language Commissioner that the target is far too low to make an impact. The people taking early retirement happen to be those who were employed when civil servants had to have Irish and a significant command of Irish. There is a major deficit and a 6% intake in the future will not ensure an adequate number of staff to provide services in Irish. We are starting from a very low base and will not go anywhere quickly, judging by the Government's proposals.

One of the other measures we are proposing for inclusion in the language Bill is a quota of at least 30% for the next ten years to address the deficit in the Civil Service before we even begin to look at the private sector. As this is not contained in the Bill, perhaps it is something at which we might look.

The third issue mentioned concerned the move from having schemes to statutory standards. This is something we are trying to promote in the discussion on the language Bill to be placed in front of the Houses of the Oireachtas. As it stands, all we can see is a weakening in what is included in the heads of the Bill which will increase the timeframe for a language plan from three to seven years. The only reason we can see for doing this is to give Departments more time to avoid what they must do. The vast majority of plans we have seen so far are very weak. Even the plans written and agreed to in the past three years contain a significant amount of get out of jail clauses such as "if resources are available" or mention "when Departments are able to achieve this...". The terminology has changed, even from what it was when they were put in place originally to something that is far weaker and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is accepting them.

The heads of the Bill that we are seeing are very weak. There are only about two things in them that I would describe as good. The first is the provision that any Irish citizen should be able to use his or her name and address in Irish. This is something that is not included in legislation, even though everybody thought it was. Therefore, it is to be welcomed. The second is that any Department, semi-State company or other body should automatically come under the language Act and not have to be prescribed by the Minister. This is also to be welcomed. However, there are only two things in the heads of the Bill which have any merit and they could be introduced as amendments to any other Bill without too much trouble.

The Government needs to overhaul the Bill it is proposing. Last week I attended a meeting of coiste comhairleach na Gaeilge with representatives of the Department, Údarás na Gaeilge, Foras na Gaeilge and a number of community groups. We were told that the Government was going ahead with the Bill, as it stood and that the Government was not retreating from the heads of Bill on the table. I will have a meeting with the Minister of State to discuss how much progress needs to be made on the Bill, but it is very weak and lacking and if it is placed in front of the Houses of the Oireachtas as it stands, we will be very worried. When the Gaeltacht Act passed through the Oireachtas, not one amendment tabled by the Opposition was accepted. If the Bill goes through as it stands, it will effectively weaken what is provided for Irish speakers. Not only that, it will be a wasted opportunity because if this is how we are progressing a ten year review of Irish language legislation, we should look to the experience of Ms Huws and the progress made in Wales and include such measures in the language Bill that will be placed in front of the Houses of the Oireachtas in the near future.