Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister would like to thank the Deputy for raising this issue and to reassure the public An Garda Síochána remains committed to the Irish language. Studies in the Irish language remain part of the policing BA delivered to all trainee gardaí at the Garda College, Templemore.

A new Irish language strategy has been developed by An Garda Síochána and will be launched early in 2022. The strategy aims to strengthen the Irish language services within the organisation and ensure compliance with the statutory language obligations.

The Minister has been informed by An Garda Síochána that a directive issued in 2018 to ensure only members with the appropriate Irish language skills would transfer to Gaeltacht stations, with a view to increasing the number of bilingual personnel in these stations. An Irish language proficiency panel has also been established under the same directive and includes members recruited through the Irish language stream as well as members who wish to be transferred to Gaeltacht stations, provided they have obtained the requisite result in the Irish oral assessment. One of the Irish language strategy goals is to increase the number of members on the Irish language proficiency panel by establishing a working group to examine incentives for members to request a transfer to Gaeltacht stations.

The Deputy raised the issue of a timeline and two to three years seems quite a long time to wait for that appointment. I will bring his concerns and views back to the Minister and see can we get a definite answer on a timeline. I again thank him for raising this very important issue.

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