Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree. I am conscious that the Deputy and I discussed this during the passage of the Higher Education Authority Act 2022 when much of the debate he, the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach and I had was around ensuring the obligation on the HEA and higher education institutions to play their part in respect of our first official language was, let us be frank, more strengthened and prominent than it was in the original draft legislation. I will not use up time here, but as we develop our education strategy, there are now clear responsibilities and legal requirements on the authority to promote the Irish language beyond simply providing a set number of courses, but embedding the language. I am happy to explore that more generally.

On the specific question regarding recruitment into the Civil Service, the answer lies with the advisory committee and the work it is doing at a central level to ensure that right across Departments, including mine, we can meet the requirements under the new legislation. On the education sector, I am satisfied that we are making a lot of courses available in Irish. There were 106 courses with 2,510 students last year. We will continue to work closely with other Departments to ensure we provide enough courses and opportunities to meet all the requirements under the legislation.

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