Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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179. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her views on whether the improvement of use of the Irish language by State services should include public communications and advertising by Departments and State agencies; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55128/21]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The aim of the Official Languages Act 2003 is to increase and improve, in an organised manner over a period of time, the quantity and quality of services provided for the public through the Irish language by public bodies. This includes the matters referred to by the Deputy.  A comprehensive list of government Departments and state agencies which are subject to its provisions is contained in the First Schedule to that Act.

As the Deputy may be aware, the Official Languages (Amendment) Bill 2019 was before the Seanad at Second Stage yesterday. It is hoped that Committee Stage will commence on 24 November and Report Stage in early December. The primary purpose of the Bill is to amend the Official Languages Act 2003 with a view to increasing and improving the provision of public services through the Irish language. In this regard, I proposed additional amendments to strengthen the Bill when it was before Dáil Éireann which address many of the concerns and issues that have been raised following extensive consultation with stakeholders and some 25 hours of debate at Committee Stage. These amendments are consistent with the State’s wider policy ambition to support and promote the use of the Irish language.  The amendments will improve the overall operation of the Official Languages Act 2003, ensuring that the relevant legislation continues to act as an effective mechanism to reflect the Constitutional position of the Irish language as the first official language of the State and to ensure that public services in Irish are available to meet the needs of Irish speakers. Among the proposals currently included in the Bill are new provisions obliging public bodies issuing marketing material to the public to do so in Irish as well as English and requiring each public body to carry out at least 20% of its annual advertising in the Irish language and 5% in the Irish language media. 

I am confident that these measures will improve the use of the Irish language in the provision of State services in the years to come.