Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit chuig an Teach don díospóireacht tábhachtach seo. Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an gCéim seo den Bhille. Tá dul chun cinn agus úsáid na teanga inár gcroílár. Is í an Ghaeilge céad teanga na tíre agus is gá go mbeadh muid ar fad, an Rialtas ach go háirithe, aireach faoi seo. Tacaím leis na spriocanna atá liostaithe amach sa Bhille: go mbeadh duine as gach cúigear earcach nua sa tseirbhís poiblí líofa sa teanga faoi 2030; go mbeadh 20% den bholscaireachta a dhéanfaidh comhlachtaí poiblí déanta trí Ghaeilge; agus go mbainfí feidhm agus go mbeadh rochtain ar an síneadh fada i gcórais teangeolaíochta na comhlachtaí poiblí.

Ná bíodh drogall orainn tacaíocht a thabhairt dár gcéad teanga faoi Bhunreacht na hÉireann. Níor chóir go mbeadh ar dhuine a bheith ag streachailt agus é nó í ag iarraidh teacht ar sheirbhísí as Gaeilge, go háirithe iad sin ar cainteoirí dúchais iad. Ní foláir go dtiocfar le cuspóir roinnte an Bhille seo, is é sin seirbhísí poiblí a chur ar fáil trí Ghaeilge. Is mian liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil chuig an iar-Aire Stáit, mo chara, an Seanadóir Kyne, as an obair a rinne sé chun an Bille seo a shocrú, ach go mór mór gabhaim buíochas leis as an obair rinne sé ar son na teanga agus as an tacaíocht a thug sé do na ceantair Ghaeltachta.

Senator Murphy and I probably share many similarities, one of which is that I would love to be able to speak Irish as fluently as many Members of the House. I have a huge interest in the Irish language and culture. It is something in which I strongly believe. This Bill must ensure that we never forget that the Irish language is our first language. It is a working and living language. We must also ensure that the Irish language is prioritised for the people.

One of my hobby horses, and it is the same for my husband who is a fluent Gaeilgeoir, is the use of the síneadh fada when booking flights. I mean technology does not recognise the fada, the apostrophe or the name, which is something we must get right. I very much welcome the commitment given by the Minister of State and praise him for the work that he has done since his appointment in progressing this legislation. I also praise Deputy Dara Calleary in the Lower House for his stewardship; preparing 32 amendments for a Bill is a huge amount of work. To be fair, the former Minister, Deputy McHugh and former Ministers of State, Senator Kyne, and Mr. Dinny McGinley, did great work to promote the Irish language in the past decade.

The Gaeltachtaí are very important parts of what we stand for and who we are. There is a concern that the use of Irish is diminishing and that the population base is being denuded so we must invest significantly and highly in Gaeltacht areas.

The Minister of State, in his contribution, made reference to place names. Recently The Irish Timeshad an interesting article around whether it should be Enniscrone or Inishcrone in terms of the confusion about place names, which we need to rectify and get right.

We have done huge work. I remember as a Seanadóir having this discussion with Pat Carey and Éamon Ó Cuív when they were Ministers about the living language that is Irish. The Gaelscoileanna movement, primary curriculum development and more have led to gargantuan change in schools. From an educational point of view, schools have been transformed by successive Governments by making our language a spoken one as opposed to when many of us were in school where it was the tuiseal ginideach or the modh conníollach. I am in the minority of one as I enjoyed reading Peig, Bullaí Mhártainand Tóraíocht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne, which shows how old I am.