Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I thank the Cathaoirleach most sincerely for his kind welcome. While I attended the House previously in the presence of Senator Wilson, obviously the Cathaoirleach was not present.

I thank Senators Tom Sheahan and Paul Coghlan for raising this important matter which Senator Sheahan has raised many times in the past three and a half years in the Dáil, while Senator Paul Coghlan has done so in the Seanad. I am glad to be given the chance to inform the House that the Government has now approved the inclusion of provisions dealing with the Dingle placename issue in the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2011. They will replace existing provisions in local government law dealing with the changing of placenames.

There is a problem of incompatibility between the relevant local government provisions and the Official Languages Act 2003. It was brought into focus by the issue that arose in respect of the name An Daingean, or Dingle, County Kerry. The amendment I am bringing forward is intended to solve this problem. It also will put in place updated and clear procedures for the changing of placenames under local government law in a transparent and fair way and in harmony with the Official Languages Act.

The official name of Dingle was changed to An Daingean in 2004 by an order of the Minster for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs under the Official Languages Act 2003. The English language version then ceased to have legal force. As a result, there are three circumstances in which the use of the English version is not permissible, namely, in legislation, on certain Ordnance Survey maps and statutory road signage. This has given rise to a certain amount of controversy, with significant opposition locally and calls to retain Dingle as the official name, as well as a high degree of recognition, particularly from a tourism perspective.

In 2006 Kerry County Council held a plebiscite under the Local Government Act 1946 on a proposal to change the name to Dingle-Daingean Uí Chúis, which was passed. The council applied for an order to change the name accordingly, but it was not possible to accede to this because the Attorney General had advised that the local government code could not be used to change the name of a place already subject to a placenames order, as was the case with An Daingean.

To resolve the issue, the previous Government decided to legislate for the use of the names "Dingle" and "Daingean Ui Chuis", in tandem, by way of amendments to the placenames provisions in the local government code. These amendments had been included in the Dublin Mayor Bill, but this opportunity passed with the lapsing of that Bill on the dissolution of the last Dáil. Instead, I am now proposing to avail of the earliest possible legislative opportunity to enact these provisions, through the environment Bill.

The proposed amendments will restate large elements of the existing placename provisions in local government law, but with some significant changes. In future, any proposal adopted by a local authority to change a placename must specify the proposed name in Irish only or in English and in Irish. Any plebiscite will require a secret ballot and all proposals will need adoption of a resolution by half of the total members of the council.

Finally, the legislation will provide that a placename change under local government law will supersede an order under the Official Languages Act 2003 and, of course, the impact of the 2004 placenames order, as it applies to An Daingean, will be undone.

I appreciate the sensitivities of all involved in this issue and that there are differing views, but the result of the 2006 plebiscite, even if not legally implementable at that time, was clear cut. The proposed provisions will provide a more coherent, modern and streamlined set of procedures for the changing of placenames and will place responsibility for this function at local level, where it should properly reside. An important aspect of the new provisions is that they will also give greater recognition to the Irish language in every case where placename changes are proposed. I hope, therefore, that these amendments will bring the matter to a satisfactory conclusion and I expect that these changes will be completed before the summer recess of both Houses of the Oireachtas.