Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

The situation is getting worse. This House has led the debate. It was the Government and this House that developed a strategy. It was debated for seven months by the joint committee. There is soft support, and the purpose of the strategy is to convert that soft support into real support. The objective is to increase the number of Irish speakers over the 20 year period from €83,000 currently to €0.25 million by 2030. Is that an achievable objective? I take on board what Deputy O'Shea is saying but sooner or later the talking must stop and the implementation has to begin. In view of the urgency I would like the implementation to start quickly.

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