Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)

I welcome this opportunity to say a few words on this Bill and to keep key an eye on my constituency colleague from Meath West opposite and monitor the telephone calls he has received. I must take a note of the number he received. I was lucky in that I grew up beside a Gaeltacht near Baile Ghib and I live quite close to Ráth Cairn but I was not lucky enough to be part of a Gaeltacht. That is probably my fault; it is the way life worked out. I did not have a chance to live in a Gaeltacht and engage with the language and culture of one. That is something one regrets as one gets older. I was taught Irish at all levels in school but I did not learn to speak it well. I could write Irish till the cows come home and I had no problem writing essays in Irish but I missed out on speaking it. I was one of those who did not love the language when I was at school and felt it was almost a burden to have to study it. Although I did not have a problem learning it, I missed out on the opportunity to speak it more.

When the Taoiseach sought to have a debate on the amount of spoken Irish in which we engage, I was disappointed that was seen as an attack on the language, which it was not. The opposite was the case. I understood where he was coming from on that. I am glad the Minister of State likewise understands that there is a necessity to develop the spoken language and not to take for granted what happens to Gaeltacht areas. Other stories will back that up. That was a missed opportunity to have a good debate on how we could have more people speaking Irish, rather than only writing it or letting it slip on leaving school. When I was in school - which is a number of years ago now; I must be getting old - learning Irish was a burden, but a few years after I left school, I regretted that I had not spoken and learned more Irish. When I was first elected to the Dáil, I and a number of Members attended an Irish class in the Houses to pick up the language again.

The future of the Irish language is an issue and the subject of an ongoing debate we must have. It is worrying to note from reports that there is a danger of the Irish language declining in Gaeltacht areas and that English is taking over in some areas. I compliment the Minister of State on getting this Bill through Government and the fact that we are debating it today. It will ensure that the board of Údarás na Gaeltachta is retained and refocused in its intentions and that it will home in on what it should be doing, which is to safeguard and develop the Irish language mainly in Gaeltacht areas, which is where it is spoken at its best, although in other areas the use of the language is improving. I always say in regard to business that one must protect the domestic market as best one can before developing outside markets. The focus may have been taken off the Gaeltacht over the years and it was assumed the development of the language there was becoming stronger. These reports show that the decline of the language there is an issue and I am glad we have a Minister who can react to and understand that and who is doing the right job in that respect.

I welcome this Bill and the changes it will bring with it. I might not agree with every aspect of it but that is what the debate on it is all about. I support the focus of the Bill, which is on securing and developing the language mainly in Gaeltacht areas, and the process that it will go through. There are a couple of main areas. The Bill has two main aims, namely, to provide for a statutory language planning process to support the Irish language both within the Gaeltacht and nationwide, and to provide for changes to the board of Údarás na Gaeltachta. I will speak briefly on those points.

I welcome the local involvement in terms of the overall planning and that the various organisations will have to work with the local organisations to develop their plans. It is essential to have such community involvement and that it is not a top-down approach. I also welcome the introduction of the concept of Gaeltacht service towns, of which Athboy is one. Such towns deserve a focus and plan in order to increase the use of the Irish language. Athboy serves the Gaeltacht areas of Ráth Cairn and Baile Ghib. Much work is done which we cannot take for granted.

I wish to refer to the elections to the board of Údarás na Gaeltachta and the composition of the board. My second election campaign was the Údarás election in 1999 to 2000. It was an interesting campaign which I thoroughly enjoyed. The Fine Gael candidate at the time was a girl called Mags Mulroe. She was aged 19 or 20 and she had a love of the Irish language. She did not live in a Gaeltacht but she lived in an area to which people from the west had moved and there was a love for the Irish language. She got involved in the campaign and had a great election. It was an eye-opener for me. This will be my first return to such a subject, on which I missed out due to not having Irish and not being able to use as much of it as I would have liked. I understand the importance of those elections but I also understand that one does not have to hold elections to get the right board and to get the board that will make the right decisions to protect the language and develop Gaeltacht areas as well. At a time of scarce resources and when the money available to the Minister has been reduced to such an extent I can understand the logic in not holding elections, using the money elsewhere and spending it more wisely. I am in agreement with that. The local county councils will still provide a democratic system.

I spoke at length to the Minister about the right to an automatic nominee to the board for smaller Gaeltacht areas, which covers Meath County Council, Cork and Waterford. I am disappointed with the change but I know the Minister is examining the matter and I hope we can find a way to proceed. I understand the logic of having a smaller board to save resources and because it is proving to be more effective. The issue is not the number of members on the board; what is important is the quality of the membership. I hope we can find a solution but it is important that all Gaeltacht areas are represented through their county councils. I accept that is the case but my concern relates to the automatic right to a permanent nominee. We must build on the process to ensure we get it right and that all Gaeltacht areas are represented. It is important that people in all the areas can have an influence. That is a key issue. There are problems of language decline in Gaeltacht areas and I hope we can stem the tide following the introduction of the legislation and with the help of the resources the Minister of State has secured to develop the language. We will work together on it. I look forward to the debate in the coming week.

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