Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 66: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs his view on the high proportion of Chinese and Nigerian nationals who claim to speak the Irish language; his views on the figures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29441/07]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 89: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs his views on the census figures relating to the use of the Irish language; his views on whether the questions asked give an accurate impression of the level of proficiency in the language and use thereof in the general population; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29440/07]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 66 and 89 together.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Census results with respect to the Irish language were published in October 2007. The results were positive insofar as a total of 1,656,790 persons in the State aged 3 years of age and over indicated an ability to speak Irish, an increase of 85,896 or 5.46% on 2002.

A range of questions in relation to the Irish language are asked as part of the Census concerning issues such as place of residence, age, ethnic origin, frequency of use, level of education and so forth.

For the 2006 Census, a new initiative was introduced whereby the categories for frequency of speaking Irish distinguished "daily within" and "daily without" the education system. In my view, this was a particularly important innovation, which will help give a more accurate picture in relation to the usage of Irish by the population.

I would accept that the level of competency of those 1.6 million people who indicated an ability to speak Irish would range from the fluency of native speakers to persons having a basic knowledge of the language. However, I know that the Deputy will appreciate that speakers who are not fluent are very important to the preservation and development of the language. A large part of the audience of TG4, for example, is made up of people who do not speak Irish every day.

I note from the Census results that 5,369 Black or Black Irish persons and 4,232 Asian or Asian Irish persons aged 3 years and above indicated an ability to speak Irish. These included some 1,616 persons aged 20 years or over. I have no reason to regard these figures as inaccurate, nor, in absolute terms, is there a reason to regard them as particularly remarkable. In my view, people coming to this country, particularly those with children going to school, tend to be very open to the idea of learning not only English, but Irish as well. They often have a very open attitude towards languages and view Irish in a positive way as a path to integration in our culture. Many of them are not only bilingual, but are multilingual, when they arrive here. Clearly, if the Irish language is to develop and prosper, it is very important that as many members of the community as possible, including those who have made Ireland their home in recent years, embrace the language.

Finally, and in a wider context, it is my view that we can benefit from taking account of data and statistics on minority languages in other jurisdictions. Of relevance in this regard is the recent establishment by the British-Irish Council Minority Languages Group of a sub-group on Data, Statistics and Research, on which Ireland is represented by an official from the CSO.