Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

Ba mhaith liom go dtiocfadh an tAire Dlí agus Cirt, Comhionannais agus Athchóirithe Dlí go dtí an Seanad le plé a dhéanamh ar an chinneadh a ghlac an Rialtas Dé Máirt ar na riachtanais a bhí ann do dhlíodóirí cumas na Gaeilge a bheith acu agus téarmaíocht Gaeilge a bheith acu. Tá an riachtanas sin á bhaint amach as an reachtaíocht agus ní bheidh an gá sin, cumas na Gaeilge a bheith ag dlíodóirí, ann níos mó dóibh de bharr chinneadh an Rialtais. Tá an cinneadh sin ag teacht salach ar an Ghaeilge. Níl mórán céille leis, agus sin an fáth go bhfuil mé ag iarraidh go dtiocfadh an tAire isteach le plé a dhéanamh ar an cheist.

For those who are not using their headphones, I ask that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform come into the House to address the decision by the Government to remove the requirement that members of the legal profession have a knowledge of the Irish language. This is not a sensible approach but rather an attack on the language and on the constitutional rights of those who wish to use Irish in their dealings with the courts. It will be a costly measure for the State because it will have to provide interpreters for simple legal statements in which members of legal professions were heretofore required to be proficient. Rather than abolishing the requirements, what is needed is a greater effort by third level institutions and professional training bodies to integrate the Irish language into legal education. I call for this debate as a matter of urgency because the announcement has been made without any consultation with the Irish language bodies or those providing legal services through the medium of Irish.