Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I move amendment No. 174:

In page 37, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following:“(f) the need for each Court to have members of the judiciary who are proficient in the Irish language,”.

Every person in the country is entitled to have his or her case heard through Irish if he or she so wishes. That means that there has to be proficiency in the Irish language within each court. It certainly does not mean that one can only be appointed a judge if one can speak Irish. The vast majority of people appointed as judges will not be able to hear cases in Irish, but it is important that each court has within it judges proficient in the language in order that the constitutional right of citizens to have their cases heard through the national language can be vindicated.