Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 149: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the steps which will be taken to ensure that garda recruits or members who may not have knowledge of the Irish language when they join will be given a basic or working knowledge thereof; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28564/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I recently made a number of changes to the rules governing entry to An Garda Síochána, including removing the requirement to hold a qualification in both Irish and English in the leaving certificate or equivalent, in favour of a requirement, instead, to hold a qualification in two languages, at least one of which must be Irish or English.

Irish society is increasingly multi-ethnic and multicultural and the previous absolute requirement for Garda trainees to hold an academic qualification in Irish was undoubtedly a barrier to membership of An Garda Síochána for many persons. Changes to the eligibility criteria will open up entry to An Garda Síochána to persons from all of our multi-ethnic and multi-national communities. This is a significant step which will help to ensure that future intakes of recruits to An Garda Síochána reflect the composition of Irish society, to the benefit of the force and the people it serves.

However, Irish will continue to have an important place in An Garda Síochána. Everyone who wishes to must be able to communicate with the force through our native language. An Garda Síochána has a very strong commitment to delivering a service through Irish. Indeed, proficiency in Irish is strongly promoted within the force, and that will continue to be the case.

Future recruits to An Garda Síochána who do not have a qualification in Irish when commencing their period of training will be required to achieve an appropriate standard in Irish before becoming full members of the force. To facilitate this, it is intended that these recruits will be given basic training in the Irish language as part of their training programme. Details of the Irish language educational requirements of trainee gardaí will be finalised shortly by the Garda Commissioner, in consultation with my Department and the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Ó Cuív.