Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I apologise that the Minister, Deputy Howlin, is unable to come to the House to address the issue this evening.

The policy of awarding bonus marks for Irish language proficiency in Civil Service competitions was introduced following the abolition of compulsory Irish in the 1970s. In developing pragmatic policies in support of Irish language proficiency to replace the existing legacy policy, the Minister was guided by a public policy imperative to develop a coherent set of measures that support service delivery through Irish in the 21st century. In formulating the new policy the Minister was conscious that the bonus marks scheme was not, in practice, achieving its policy objective. The uptake of the scheme was low and those awarded bonus marks were not being utilised to provide services through Gaeilge.

The Minister's focus since taking office has been on driving change and reform across the public service to make it better performing and more fit for purpose. In this context, we are rolling out more strategic workforce planning policies to ensure the right people are in the right place to deliver effective policy initiatives and support efficient service delivery. Within this overarching policy, Irish language proficiency policy for the Civil Service has been refocused to provide more meaningful and effective services through Irish. The Government's implementation plan for the 20-year strategy for the Irish language 2010-2030 includes measures aimed at building capacity in the provision of Irish language services in the Civil Service. The workforce planning process will be amended to require Departments and Government offices to identify posts and areas of work requiring staff who are functional bilinguals.

We have now given practical effect to the commitments in the measures to support Irish language proficiency in the Civil Service that were unveiled last week. The policy includes provision for a sub-panel of functional bilinguals equal to 6% of the main panel for future recruitment and, where appropriate, promotion competitions. Successful candidates from the main competition panel will be tested on the basis of a rigorous written and oral Irish test. Successful candidates must be able to provide a full range of services to customers, and internally within Departments, in Irish, and will be designated for that purpose for a period of time. We will pilot this approach in the upcoming executive officer competition to assess demand for functional bilinguals across Departments. If demand exists, the scheme will be applied to future competitions.

The shift from the policy of awarding bonus marks for Irish in competitions - which demonstrably did not achieve the required policy outcome - to an approach that puts in place a panel of functional bilinguals for deployment across the system is designed to renew and strengthen Irish language proficiency across the Civil Service. We see scope for greater linkages between the Irish language schemes and strategic workforce planning so as to ensure Departments clearly identify the need, if any, for service delivery through Irish in a structured way. This more targeted and direct approach acknowledges, in a tangible way, the continued importance of service provision through Irish.

In tandem with the functional bilingual policy, there is an ongoing need for an Irish language training and proficiency assessment regime for existing civil servants. The service level agreement between the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht supports capacity building and provides a practical mechanism to support Irish language training services and proficiency testing.

In conclusion, resourcing policy for the Irish language must have a greater competency-based focus. The new measures represent a very real improvement and go a long way towards achieving this outcome. The legacy policy was not providing service delivery in Irish, and the measures agreed last week are the first step on the road to a more realistic and coherent policy in this area. The policy is intended to meet our stated commitment under the 20-year strategy and to create a supply of functional bilinguals for deployment across the Civil Service in the medium to longer term.