Results 10,101-10,120 of 16,457 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: That is out of 1,500. I was not sure of the overall figure for the Department.

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: The figures I mentioned are people who have sought out lessons to improve and become proficient but, as Mr. Ó Cearúil has said, there are quite a number of people who are proficient when they come to the Department. I do not know if there is a way of identifying how many in the Department have Irish, but if there is, it might be helpful to give that to the committee.

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: I am sorry to say I do not have those figures but I can get them for the Deputy.

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: There is an interview process. I would not call it a test but there is an interview process whereby, if somebody is selected who has Irish as a language, he or she will have to show he or she is proficient. I am sure there are people who put down that they are proficient in Irish when they may not be, but it is important that if someone says they are proficient in a language, particularly...

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: I fully support the Deputy in that. It is very important, not just for the gardaí but for the Prison Service, the Court Service and all agencies that fall under the remit of the Department of Justice, that they clearly set out their Irish-language strategies and plans. Earlier, I mentioned the 2030 target for the 20% of recruits. In order to reach that, all our agencies need to make...

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: It is very difficult to tell how many Irish speakers will come through the process, but our focus and priority was to make sure that people applied in the first instance. The more people apply, the more people will go through the process and be successful at interview stage as well as subsequent stages, which will hopefully increase our overall numbers. It is regrettable that there is a...

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: I refer to removing the barrier. As the Deputy has said, I and others believe the increase in numbers has happened for a number of different reasons, including communications and outreach. What was happening before clearly was not working, we were not seeing those numbers increase in the way we wanted and this requirement was preventing others from applying. The Commission on the Future of...

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: I am not sure what the accent is; maybe Roscommon. The Deputy made a point about Letterkenny and this is a Garda station that will be a service station and a training station. Those who are going to Letterkenny will have an opportunity to learn their essential policing skills and to make use of their Irish-language skills, which is welcome and the Deputy has been passionate about making...

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: My understanding is that it is the same level. It has not changed and there has not been a reduction - I will not say "downgrading" - with regard to the level of proficiency required. There has not been any change with regard to what is required.

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: People are required to be able to speak Irish and to be fluent enough to engage with people, not just in general conversation, but when attending court or engaging with various different agencies. Obviously, more than a basic level of understanding is needed to converse with people in those circumstances. The standard has always been that high. That has not changed.

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: I might ask one of my officials to respond on that. I am not clear on the answer.

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: You have to demonstrate that you have competency and proficiency in the language. It is not a test but you have to demonstrate that you have proficiency. With regard to the changes on the promotion side of things, the new regulations were informed by the Garda Inspectorate report from 2015 which recommended that a new process be put in place. I appreciate the regulations represent a...

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: The Garda Commissioner needs to be mindful of striking a balance and make sure that people going for promotion have the relevant skills needed for that promotion while also ensuring we have enough people with proficiency in Irish. This goes back to the original point that the more people we have in An Garda Síochána who can speak Irish fluently or who are proficient in the...

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: The answer is that the Department took the decision. It did so based on the information that it was available to it at the time. The Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland highlighted a lack of diversity and a need to increase diversity within An Garda Síochána. The Garda itself, in reaching out to other communities, identified that one of the reasons people were not...

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: The report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland has been published and is available to anybody. I am not sure if the information from the Garda on its engagement is published but it was based on the conversations and engagement that happen regularly with An Garda Síochána that this feedback came to us. It is not information that we would have had ourselves but...

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: Quite simply, we need to keep everything under review and under consideration. That we have seen an increase in this round is positive. We need to see the numbers that come out of this and whether the actions we have taken have been successful. We need to allow for the strategy within An Garda Síochána to bed down and to see how successful that is. Obviously, 2030 is not that...

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: Some from the Irish stream were moved into the English stream. I do not have a figure for the 129 that ended up specifically in that stream. I should have brought more figures with me so I apologise. I will try to come back to the Cathaoirleach on that directly. I know some of them moved streams and moved across the various Irish and English streams. I will endeavour to come back to the...

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: I do not have sight of that yet. It has only been a matter of weeks since the competition closed so we would not have any of that information yet. It is important that people who only have one language are allowed to apply. As I said, there may be people with learning difficulties where that would not in any way impact their ability to carry out their jobs the same as anybody else. It is...

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: I would not agree with that. Diversity comes in all shapes, sizes and forms. Without knowing the figures, I am certain many people have applied who have more than one language but I am also sure there are many people who do not. We need to make sure everybody has a fair crack of the whip.

Joint Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt: Plé. (30 Mar 2022)

Helen McEntee: The stipulation is that people must have English or Irish as their base. Irish is treated equally in this instance and if people have other languages, then that is obviously great too. It is not just English with Irish as a potential addition.