Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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426. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if consideration will be given to submitting a request to the European Union not to renew the derogation which exempts the majority of documentation from being translated into the Irish language and thereby place a renewed focus on ensuring that the Irish language attains all full recognition and status enjoyed by official languages of the Union as well as promoting the language in general at European level. [50824/13]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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430. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding the EU Irish language derogation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50804/13]

Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 426 and 430 together.

I refer the Deputies to my reply to Question No. 131 of 21 November 2013. As I indicated in my reply, a decision on whether or not to extend the derogation regarding the use of Irish in EU institutions for a further period of time is required by December 2015 at the latest. My Department is engaged in discussions with various stakeholders, including the EU institutions, in order to formulate specific proposals on the optimal approach to the ending of the derogation. It is hoped to bring the matter forward for consideration by Government in early 2014.

It should also be noted that, as part of the Government's strategy to ensure that a sufficient number of qualified personnel are available to meet the needs arising from the recognition of Irish as an official and working language of the EU, my Department continues to provide substantial funding for a range of specialised third-level courses and for the development of Irish language terminology for the EU terminology database, InterActive Terminology for Europe (IATE).