Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will speak to amendment No. 26. I mentioned earlier that the intention of this amendment is to ensure that "not less than one of the persons appointed ... shall be representative for the interests of the Gaeltacht [or the] Irish language speaking community". It is important that we give due recognition to that in any group of appointments, given what we are trying to achieve with this legislation, namely, the interests of the Irish language and the interests of education in the country in the future. It is particularly important given the passage of the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021 because there is now an onus on the State to ensure 20% of those who are recruited into the State sector by 2030 are able to speak Irish to a level whereby they can deal with the public. One might say that can be done through the secondary schools but for areas of specific expertise, we need graduates and students of every discipline who have the ability to speak Irish. Every sector of the public sector will have to attract people who have an ability to speak Irish that will allow them to deal with the public. We need those staff to be able to carry out their business in the public sector. That is why I believe it is important for any body or institution in the State to ensure a specific importance for the Irish language to ensure it is not set aside or sidelined as it has been over the years in some of the bodies which oversee the State sector. That has been the case to such a degree that we are now in the position where only 0.4% of those recruited into the public sector have a level of Irish that would allow them to deal with the public. Inniúlacht sa Ghaeilge atá i gceist. We require an ability and level at which they can communicate and interact with the public. That could be required of a doctor or teacher. We know there is a crisis in the numbers of teachers who can speak in front of a class to a satisfactory level in the Irish language. There are teachers who do not have the ability to speak to their students as Gaeilge, not only in Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí but also in English-speaking schools.

We all know there is a crisis in hospitals, whether in Gaeltacht areas or elsewhere, in public health centres and in Garda stations in respect of the number of Irish speakers available to address a need that has been identified under the Official Languages (Amendment) Act. That is why the bar was set quite low, in my view, but it is realistic because it must be achievable. There is an onus on the State to achieve that 20% level by 2030. The work has to start now and where better to start than in bodies and boards belong to Údarás na Gaeltachta?

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