Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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449. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the status regarding implementing the numerous components of the 20-year strategy for Irish language report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17600/17]

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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The 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030represents the foundation stone of the Government's policy on the Irish language. In that context, by way of supporting the maintenance and development of the Irish language as a community and household language in the Gaeltacht, the implementation of the Strategyis recognised as a key priority in the Programme for a Partnership Government. Progress reports on the implementation of the Strategy between 2010 and 2015 were published in December 2015 by all 16 Government Departments. It is evident from these reports that a solid foundation exists on which to build during the five-year period from 2016 onwards. These can be found at .

The reports were published during an open policy debate on the Strategy which was organised by my Department in light of the fact that the Strategy was five years in existence at the end of 2015. The primary purpose of the open policy debate was to facilitate feedback in relation to progress to date regarding the Strategy’s implementation and to identify priorities for the coming five years. As part of that process, a series of public meetings were convened, in addition to written submissions being sought from both the public and key stakeholders alike.

In order to assist in the process, the services of Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge, NUIG, were engaged by my Department to prepare a report summarising the key conclusions of the public consultation process and to identify key strategic priorities for the coming years. This draft report has been submitted to the Advisory Committee established to advise on the implementation of the Strategy for its consideration. Following receipt of the Advisory Committee’s recommendations, it is my intention to publish, by mid-2017, an action plan for the period 2017-2022 which will contain specified strategic priorities for the next five years along with a timeline for their implementation.

A copy of An tAcadamh’s report can be found at: