Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

I acknowledge the Irish language lobby groups which have been lobbying hard and have brought this issue to the fore and to the public's attention. That is not to undermine the work of Senator Ó Murchú and his involvement in promoting the Irish language.

There is an inextricable link between culture and economics. If we are to save the Irish language in the long term, there is no in point merely talking about it and coming into the House saying we are trying to learn the language, to get involved and to promote the Irish language. This happens at grassroots level in homes and in national and secondary schools. However, there must be an economic carrot as well. That economic carrot should be that we are able to say to students at national and secondary school levels that they, like others, can get a job in Europe if they make an extra effort at Irish. We do not have an adequate percentage of the jobs in the EU as compared to other countries. We are being discriminated against.

As has been said repeatedly tonight, Irish is recognised in the Constitution as our first language. We do not need to go to Europe and say this will cost the same as the translation service for French or German; we are not looking for every document and transcript to be translated into Irish. We are seeking recognition for the language and for Irish to be the second language on a job application for Brussels. That can be done tonight and we can move this forward. I am confident the Government will move this forward.