Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte mhór roimh an díospóireacht seo inniu. Céad bliain tar éis Éirí Amach na Cásca, tá sé de dhualgas orainn níos a dhéanamh chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn.

Our national language is an immeasurable cultural treasure. A century on from the foundation of our Republic, the need to revitalise the effort to secure and develop the use of the Irish language is particularly important. Tá brón orm that the outgoing Government lacked any real commitment to our language or the protection of language rights. Fine Gael and the Labour Party continuously downgraded the status of the Irish language. The successful roll-out of an ambitious strategy for the Irish language requires ongoing leadership and funding. Tá sé an-thábhactach that such leadership is provided by the new Government. Fianna Fáil made sure that the confidence and supply agreement with Fine Gael contained a commitment to increase investment in the Irish language.

Cloisimid go minic na focail ó Phádraig Pearse: "Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam." Is dóigh liom gur cheart dúinn smaoineamh ar na focail sin. Ba cheart dúinn féachaint conas forbairt a dhéanamh ar an nGaeilge chun a chinntiú go mbeimid ábalta an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn.

Teastaíonn uaim cúpla pointe a dhéanamh, ag tosú le scoileanna. We should consider providing learning opportunities to parents to refresh their Irish and help their children. Tá sé fíor-thábhactach deiseanna foghlama a thabhairt do thuismitheoirí. Perhaps this should be extended to all adults who would like to refresh their Irish. We should have a campaign this year to promote learning Irish, which should be done by providing more activities as Gaeilge as children often learn Irish in school but do not speak it outside school hours. There are many good people, like Br. Michael Broderick in my own town of Newbridge, who facilitate weekly conversational Irish gatherings to encourage adults to learn Irish in a friendly environment. We definitely need more of that.

We also need to further promote the Ghnó trí Ghaeilge scheme. Where it is most obvious that Irish can be spoken, we need to move to a situation in our towns and cities, as well as in Gaeltacht areas, in which people can undertake their daily business in Irish if they so wish.

As a graduate of many Irish colleges when I was younger, and having enjoyed a hugely positive, sociable and enjoyable cultural experience, I believe the coláistí samhraidh have a huge role to play in putting the fun back into the learning of an Ghaeilge. However, as many of those who run the colleges will say, there is a huge amount of red tape for parents who host the students. We need more focus on providing and facilitating these courses, and not only in Gaeltacht areas because there could also be more of a role for Gaelscoileanna across the country.

Ba mhaith liom cúpla focal a rá mar gheall ar Ghaeilge san Eoraip. Since 2007 Irish has been an official language of the EU, with this having been negotiated by a Fianna Fáil Government. As a former member of the Committee of the Regions, I am extremely proud of the fact Irish can be spoken, not only in European Parliament plenary sessions, but also in Committee of the Regions plenary sessions. This possibility has been used by Irish members at every plenary session. The importance cannot be underestimated of providing an opportunity for Irish elected members to speak their language in a European setting.

The derogation for the language in the EU is soon coming to an end and I was delighted to see, in the past few weeks, a call for 62 Irish translators and 13 Irish linguistic assistants to add to the 50-plus positions already created since 2007. In total, this will have provided over 180 opportunities for Irish speakers in Brussels. What is also interesting in this context is that the amount of Irish being spoken in social circles in Brussels has drastically increased over the past few years, and perhaps there are some lessons for us at home in that regard. Through the power of Facebook and social media, I take great pride in watching my two little nieces in Shanghai absorbing themselves in Irish culture, dance and song, and taking huge pride in their Irish identity abroad.

TG4 was a game changer in Irish language development, with many companies developing programming as Gaeilge. The reality is that in many of our smaller towns and communities, particularly in Gaeltacht areas, Irish will not survive unless there is job creation in those areas. While Údarás na Gaeltachta is active, its budget has been drastically cut over recent years. There needs to be a focus on providing small-scale jobs, not only in tourism, in Gaeltacht areas and across rural communities the length and breadth of the country.

What are the key priorities for Fianna Fáil? We believe a senior Minister should be appointed with primary responsibility for Gaeltacht and Irish language affairs as well as the establishment of a full Oireachtas committee with responsibility for Gaeltacht and Irish language affairs. We propose an additional allocation of annual funding dedicated to the continued implementation of the Irish language strategy and further current expenditure for projects under Údarás na Gaeltachta. We are also committed to supporting the office of An Coimisinéir Teanga, protecting its independence, and introducing legislation to strengthen the Official Languages Act and make language legislation more effective.

Fianna Fáil believes we must ensure that Irish remains at the heart of our junior certificate and leaving certificate curriculum. In addition, we are also committed to examining the possibility of introducing a second Irish language option for the leaving certificate and junior certificate to cater specifically for the needs of native Irish speakers and other fluent speakers, and to ensure that Gaeltacht schools have the freedom and resources to teach Irish to the native speaker in a manner that is appropriate and effective.

Fianna Fáil strongly supports the implementation of the 20-year strategy for the Irish language, which we brought forward while in government. We also put in place the Official Languages Act, which gave a statutory basis for the first time to the rights in respect of the language enshrined in the Constitution.

According to the 2011 census, 41% of the population can speak Irish, which includes 83,526 people who reside in my own county of Kildare. It is interesting to note that 1.8% of the population speaks Irish on a daily basis outside the education system.

That accounts for 1,185 people in County Kildare. The statistics also show that 18.7% of the population speak Irish daily, weekly or less regularly. They should be supported and promoted and more opportunities should be given to them. We should remember the words: "Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam." Tá súil agam go mbeidh anam agus teanga sa Rialtas sa todhchaí.

See this speech in context