Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Tá áthas orm Seachtain na Gaeilge a cheiliúradh inniu agus don choicís amach romhainn. Tacaíonn na Daonlathaithe Sóisialta le stádas na Gaeilge sa tír seo. Tá leagan Gaeilge againn dár suíomh Idirlín agus tá polasaí againn chun stádas na Gaeilge a threisiú. Tá na Daonlathaithe Sóisialta thar a bheith sásta tacaíocht a thabhairt d’fhorbairt na Gaeilge mar theanga bheo agus mar acmhainn don chultúr, lámh le lámh leis na Gaeltachtaí. Tá sé ar intinn againn fuinneamh nua a insileadh sa Ghaeilge agus feabhsú a dhéanamh.

This is an historical occasion for us, celebrating the first Seachtain na Gaeilge since the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021 was enacted last year. This is a very important part in our history in terms of the development, protection and support for our language. It is particularly important for the Gaeltacht community and it is long overdue but it is also important in terms of encouraging the everyday use of Irish when interacting with the State. This is important for the rest of the population in terms of signalling the importance of the language to us all. There are very ambitious targets within this Act, which is very welcome, but we need to see progress in terms of reaching those targets. That is very important.

Another area that needs a great deal of attention at the moment in terms of supporting our language is education. We have 45,000 pupils attending Irish primary schools nationwide yet there is capacity for only 13,900 students at second level. To put it another way, we have 8% of our primary school children in Gaelscoileanna around the country but only 4% of our second level students in Gaelcholáistí. This means there is an access issue for those second level students who want to access second level education through the Irish language. The Gaelcholáistí have been incredibly successful. There is a large amount of work that needs to be done to remove the barriers to second level education through Irish for those students who want to do it. That is very important in terms of the support that we can give for the language.

In terms of the Gaeltacht areas, in the past couple of years, due to the pandemic, we have seen the closure of Irish-language summer courses in particular and the significant economic impact that has had on Irish language-Gaeltacht community areas. My colleague in Galway, Councillor Owen Hanley, estimates that has had a €50 million impact on the local economy. The survival of Gaeltacht communities and the thriving of Gaeltacht communities is very important to us overall on this island. There are issues that need to be addressed there on the housing front in particular and around planning. With the increase in short-term rentals and holiday rentals, there has been an impact on housing needs for people in Gaeltacht communities where people have not been able to afford homes in their local Gaeltacht areas. This is putting their contribution to the Gaeltacht areas and the existence of the Gaeltacht areas under threat and in jeopardy. That needs to be addressed at Government level.

I want to mention two other issues, the first of which is the importance of making progress in terms of a national policy on bilingual packaging. That would be very welcome. It would give people, in particular Irish language speakers, the ability to access products through the language but it would also provide opportunities in terms of employment in translation in product and service marketing. There is also the issue around communications, especially from the Government. In terms of social media posts from the Government, as previously pointed out by my colleague, Deputy Cairns, last year less than 4% of all social media posts by various Departments were in Irish. By comparison, in Wales, approximately 50% of posts were either in Welsh or bilingual. There is a lot of progress that could be made there.

Tá an Ghaeilge á labhairt ar an oileán seo for the last 2,500 bliain. Caithfear gach tacaíocht a thabhairt chun í a choinneáil beo. Dúirt Antonio Gramsci gur doras í teanga do chultúr na ndaoine. Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam. Bainigí sult as Seachtain na Gaeilge.

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