Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Aire Stáit. We would all agree that the previous method was not working, but it is also true that the Minister of State's Department did not actually implement that scheme. In fact, several outstanding cases in this regard have been taken by the Coimisinéir Teanga. The scheme was never going to work if it was not implemented.

The Minister of State provided a great deal of information in his reply without actually responding to the question I asked. He stated in his conclusion that "resourcing policy for the Irish language must have a greater competency-based focus". On the basis of what research did the Department arrive at the 6% figure? My concern is that there does not seem to be any basis for the new policy in theory or existing research. Nobody in the Irish language sector knows where the 6% figure came from, why this policy has been accepted and with whom it was discussed. There certainly was no discussion with any of the stakeholders; rather, the figure in question seems to have been plucked out of the air.

The Irish language community has very little faith that the new scheme will work. It is in not in alignment with the 20-year strategy in any way, sense or form. There is also the issue that Departments are not implementing the schemes they are supposed to be implementing. I have less faith in the scheme now than I did before I asked the question, because I see no basis for the decision that was made and no backup for the Minister of State's assertions.