Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim céad fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit ag an am deireannach seo. Táim thar a bheith buíoch dó faoin am a thógáil le bheith linn. Bhí mé ag Oireachtas na Gaeilge i gCill Áirne ag an deireadh seachtaine - ócáid mhór na Gaeilge ag a mbíonn pobal na Gaeilge agus na Gaeltachta ar fad bailithe le chéile. Bhí borradh mór faoin ócáid ar fad, ach bhí an-díomá le braith freisin ag an ócáid chéanna maidir le cinneadh a ghlac comhleacaí an Aire Stáit, an tAire Howlin, an tseachtain seo caite maidir leis an coimhneas atá ann ó thaobh daoine atá ag obair sa Státseirbhís.

I attended the Oireachtas na Samhna festival in Kerry last weekend. It is the largest Irish language festival. It was a very good festival and there was a good buzz. However, that was dampened to a great extent by an announcement by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, last week that there will be a change in the way people will be recruited to the civil and public service. Many suggestions have been made over the last number of years regarding how to improve the number of people in the civil and public service who can do their business as Gaeilge and support the communities around the country who wish to do that. The decision taken by the Government was wholeheartedly condemned by almost everybody I spoke to at the festival. These are people who are trying to avail of these services on a daily basis.

A number of people have made strong statements on the decision. An Coimisinéir Teanga, Seán Ó Cuirreáin, who has a huge amount of expertise and has spoken on this issue and written about it in many of his reports, stated the new system would be an absolute disaster, teip tubaisteach, as regards trying to increase the number of Irish speakers in these services. It will push Béarla éigeantach don phobal lena gnóthaí a dhéanamh leis an Stát. It is compulsory English for Irish speakers if they wish to engage with the State. Conradh na Gaeilge has said that there was a golden opportunity here for the Government to do something positive. It is widely accepted that we must increase the number of people who can do their daily work through the medium of Irish.

It is suggested that 6% of people recruited to the public service will have to be Irish speakers. How did the Minister arrive at that figure? There does not appear to have been any research conducted in recent years that would suggest a figure of 6%. I have read a number of reports on the Irish language in the last few years and this does not appear to have been a suggestion by any of the experts in this area. This figure is not in the Government's 20 year strategy for the Irish language, which is supposed to be the blueprint for increasing the number of Irish speakers in the State to 250,000 over that period.

What research has been done on this decision? Has the figure been plucked out of the air? Who arrived at it? Is there a plan for how the 6% will be deployed in the different Departments? In the Department of Education and Skills, for example, which is one of the key Departments for promoting the Irish language, if one removes teachers from the equation only 3% of the people working in the administration side of the Department can do their business through the medium of Irish. That is a huge reduction from the position in the Department previously. In addition, we have seen with numerous reports from the Language Commissioner in the last number of years a certain belligerence on the part of some Government Departments in respect of engaging with people and taking on board his recommendations for providing their services through the medium of Irish. Who will be in charge of this new plan? From where did the plan emerge? On what research is it based? Has some socioeconomic or linguistic research been carried out to support that figure and explain why it is being used? Who will be in charge of the implementation and how will the figure be divided across different Departments? Will there be priority Departments that deliver front-line services in Gaeltacht areas, for example, and to Irish speaking communities at which it will be targeted?

People in the Irish language community think this decision is an absolute disgrace. They see no merit in it and believe it will be hugely detrimental to the provision of services. They also believe it is contradictory to the Government's 20 year strategy to promote the Irish language. We call for it to be reviewed and for the Government to return to the recommendations in the 20 year strategy and to implement them fully. Táim ag súil go mór le freagra an Aire Stáit ar seo agus tá súil agam go dtabharfaidh sé léargas dúinn ar cén córas cinntireachta atá ag an Rialtas agus ag an Aire Howlin agus é ag cur an cinneadh seo i bhfeidhm.