Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The members of the boards of the ETBs, with the exception of those members who are on the staff, would rarely interact with the general public. They are there in a managerial capacity and do not sit at the front desk of a VEC or Youthreach service anywhere. It is those people who need to interact with the public in an effective manner. I agree with the Deputy that there are areas other than Gaeltacht areas where the public want to interact through Irish. If it transpires within any ETB that there is demand for such a service - a demand that would be most tangibly felt in Gaeltacht areas - there is nothing to prevent the board of that ETB ensuring that service is available. In fact it is obliged to ensure it is available where it is needed. Therefore, I do not see it as a prerequisite of providing that service that Irish language speakers must be on the managerial board.

In an area where there is a Gaeltacht, insisting that at least three of the ten elected members of the board should have the capacity to discharge all of their functions through Irish would skew the democratic process more than necessary. I see no benefit accruing from that. Rather, it would undermine the democratic process. There is sufficient protection available within the Official Languages Act to ensure the services to Irish language speakers are provided consistently across the service. Any legislation or imposition over and above that is unnecessary and might prove unwieldy.

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