Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 59: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the Gaeltacht allowances payable to An Garda Síochána; the amounts involved; and the criteria and to whom payable. [41065/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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An allowance amounting to 7.5% of gross pay is payable to members of An Garda Síochána serving in defined Gaeltacht areas who perform their duties through the medium of Irish and whose knowledge of the language is certified as adequate for that purpose.

I have been informed that when the Gaeltacht allowance was introduced, it was decided that it would only be paid in areas where Irish was the general medium of speech and where all the members of the force were proficient in Irish and were required to perform their duties in Irish. The areas where these allowances were to be paid were determined on the basis of Garda Districts. It was not regarded as practicable to arrange for members of the force in any particular Station to conduct all their duties in Irish if Irish was not also in use at the District Headquarters.

A Garda headquarters circular sets out the conditions for the deployment/payment of the Gaeltacht allowances to Garda personnel serving in the Fíor- and Breac-Ghaeltacht areas in the Divisions of Galway West, Donegal and Kerry. The Garda authorities advise that the term "Fíor" in the concept of Garda usage denotes a Gaeltacht area where Irish is the main vernacular of the local population, whereas the term "Breac" signifies a Gaeltacht area where English is, in the main, the more dominant language of the local population. Garda Management state that in the Fíor-Ghaeltacht, members must have obtained a minimum of 80% in the Oral Irish Proficiency Test. In the Breac-Ghaeltacht members must have obtained a minimum of 70% in the Oral Irish Proficiency Test.

I have been further advised by the Garda authorities that the number of personnel in receipt of the Gaeltacht allowance on the final pay run for each year 2003 to 2005 (inclusive), and as at 30 November 2006, was as set out in the table hereunder:

Payments in the amount of €991,108.50 have been made in respect of the Gaeltacht allowance up to 28 November, 2006.