Dáil debates

Thursday, 18 June 2015

10:40 am

Photo of Terence FlanaganTerence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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10. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will provide an update on the lifting of the derogation for the Irish language to be recognised as an official language in the European Union; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23547/15]

Photo of Terence FlanaganTerence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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Will the Minister provide an update on the lifting of the derogation on Irish? It is not being used as an official or working language of the European Union at present. That is a shame. There is an opportunity to create 180 jobs and it is something the Government should be actively pursuing. Will the Minister indicate who will make the decision regarding the lifting of the derogation and when that decision will be made?

Photo of Joe McHughJoe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for putting down the question. The Irish language was given full official and working language status in the European Union from 1 January 2007 under EU Regulation No. 920/2005. The regulation included a partial derogation to be reviewed every five years, with the first period lasting until 31 December 2011. Following a review, the partial derogation was extended for a second period, until 31 December 2016, under EU Regulation No. 1257/2010. Under the terms of the derogation in place since 2007, only legislation adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure, formerly the co-decision procedure, must be translated into Irish.

To achieve the required timelines a decision is required by Government in 2015 on the optimal approach to the derogation, following which the Council of the European Union will review its operation. A unanimous decision by Council is required before the end of 2015 on whether to extend, amend or end the derogation. The action agreed by Council will then be implemented from 1 January 2017. Officials from my Department and the Department of the Taoiseach have been actively engaging with the EU institutions and other relevant stakeholders for some time to formulate the optimal approach to the derogation. In this context the legislative and non-legislative services currently provided through Irish as well as the potential to expand these services are under consideration. Preparatory work on a draft regulation is under way in advance of the matter being brought to Government.

In logistical and reputational terms it is important to note that the approach adopted by Ireland to the derogation is seen to be a balanced and rational response that will have regard to prevailing circumstances and challenges, particularly in respect of issues such as the timely recruitment of the requisite personnel and the actual usage of Irish in the EU institutions.

Photo of Terence FlanaganTerence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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This is an issue I have pursued with the predecessor of the Minister of State. I raised a Topical Issue on the matter on 28 November 2013. The then Minister of State said that the issue would be raised and a decision would be considered in early 2014. Yet, here we are all these months later and no final decision has been made. Can the Minister bring any hope to people who have undertaken studies and courses in respect of providing career opportunities for translators and those who want to work in the European institutions and do the necessary work to translate all official and working documents in the European Union into Irish? There is no point in us having Irish recognised as an official and working language if we are not implementing the decision in practice. It is all about jobs, ultimately. That is what the Government's focus is on. There is potential for up to 180 jobs. What is the bottleneck in respect of making a decision? Who will effectively make that decision?

Photo of Joe McHughJoe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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I will take the last question first. Deputy Flanagan asked who makes the decision. This requires a unanimous decision of the Council of the European Union. As I said earlier there is active engagement between the Department of the Taoiseach and my Department. My officials are working hard and engaging with the EU institutions. There is almost a trilateral negotiation going on. Ultimately, it will be a decision by the Council. It has to be decided before the end of 2015 in order that whatever approach is being adopted can be implemented on 1 January 2017.

There are legislative and non-legislative services as well as potential services. That is happening all the time at the moment. Some 50 staff are working within different institutions in the European Union. There is potential for expanding more job opportunities. Deputy Flanagan mentioned a figure of over 180 potential jobs. That is accurate. There is major potential here. The strong message we should be sending out not only within the public domain but into our schools, including our primary schools and to the people who are going to do the junior certificate and consider languages, is that there is potential here.

There is the question of competency and credibility around having the three working languages. It is not simply a case of having Irish and English. People need three working languages and there are challenges around that. We need to be and we are actively engaging with the Department of Education and Skills around promoting the use of other or foreign languages within the European Union. That is where the potential is. I agree with that. In terms of the derogation-----

Photo of Seán BarrettSeán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Thank you. I will let you back in again.

Photo of Terence FlanaganTerence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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I very much accept the bona fides of the Minister of State in trying to pursue this issue and have it dealt with. I appeal to the Minister of State to prioritise this in the coming months and to try to push this on as much as he can to ensure that there is hope and career opportunities for Irish speakers who want to pursue and undertake this work. I call on the Minister of State to ensure a decision is made on this sooner rather than later. I understand the Taoiseach will ultimately make that call. Am I correct in saying that?

Photo of Joe McHughJoe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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I will again take the last question first. Ultimately, it will be a unanimous decision by the Council at European level. Active engagement is under way between Department of the Taoiseach officials and my officials. That is in preparation at the moment but, ultimately, it will require a unanimous decision by the Council at European level.

Reference was made to the timeframe. The Official Languages Act dates from 2003. Following that there was a heavy investment of money into courses in 2006. I understand approximately €12 million has been invested in that time in training up people. We need to invest more. There will be decisions. There will be news on that in the not-too-distant future in respect of whether we look at further investment in the training of people in the required competencies and whether we make decisions in respect of interpretation, translation or the very skilled competency of lawyer linguistics. Many competencies are required. A further €1 million has been invested this year.

There will be further expansion and further investment. The Government sees the opportunity. It is not only an opportunity in terms of jobs. Jobs are important, but this is about following through on the 2007 official recognition of Irish as an official working language at European level. There is potential here to grow the language and to ensure that we have a mature and credible approach to the right road. The options available are to extend, amend or keep the present scenario. No decision has been made on that yet.

Written Answers follow Adjournment.