Written answers

Thursday, 24 February 2022

Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

Legislative Process

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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69. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the status of the commencement of provisions of the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10425/22]

Photo of Jack ChambersJack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to assure the Deputy that I am working in conjunction with officials of my Department to give effect to the provisions of the amended Act in the period ahead. To this end, officials of my Department have developed a rolling work plan which sets out the various steps to be taken in the coming months.

As the Deputy will be aware, this is a long-term project involving comprehensive research and the development of a National Plan for the Provision of Irish-Medium Public Services. A statutory Advisory Committee will be established for this purpose and progress will be reported to Government on an annual basis. The Act sets targets that will challenge all in Government, in particular the target of 20 per cent of new recruits to the public service being competent in Irish by the end of 2030. Among the functions of the Advisory Committee under the Act will be the provision of advice to public bodies as to the level of competence required by a person in order for them to provide services through the medium of Irish.

My main priority at present is the process to be conducted under Section 18B of the Act to recruit members of the Advisory Committee to represent the Irish-speaking community from both within and outside the Gaeltacht. To this end, my Department has written to the Public Appointments Service asking them to commence this process. In tandem with this, my officials are preparing a role specification for use by the Public Appointments Service when administering the competition. Nominations will be also sought in relation to the other members nominated by public bodies in due course.

I have secured additional resources within my Department allocation in Budget 2022 to accelerate the implementation of the new legislation, as well as for the provision of additional resources to the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga this year to strengthen that office's monitoring systems. Recruitment of these additional staffing resources is nearing completion.

It is my intention to organise, over the months ahead, a series of information seminars for public bodies in relation to the provisions of the new Act, while commencing relevant sections of the Act at appropriate intervals.

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