Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 719 and 720 together.

The Irish Language Services Advisory Committee was established by my Department in June 2022 in accordance with section 18A of the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021. The Committee has held 11 meetings to date, with another planned for the end of the month.

The Committee’s primary focus during its first two years is the preparation of the first National Plan for Irish Language Public Services and to ensure its delivery by the statutory deadline of 19 June 2024. Upon the approval of the National Plan, dates will be set by which public services in and for Gaeltacht areas will be provided through the medium of the Irish language and by which public offices in the Gaeltacht will operate through the medium of Irish - measures which have been sought by Gaeltacht communities for many years.

In this regard, and in accordance with its functions under the Act, the Committee decided at its first meeting to commission research which will form the basis of this first National Plan. A contract was subsequently agreed by my Department with the University of Galway at the end of 2022. This research and the overall Plan will look to:

identify the gaps in the current provision of public services through the medium of Irish and propose strategies to address them;

identify the public services provided in Gaeltacht Language Planning Areas (“LPAs”) and specify strategies to ensure that Irish is the working language of offices located in LPAs and that these services are provided through the medium of Irish;

identify the current level of Irish language competence in the public sector; and

make recommendations regarding recruitment of personnel with competence in the Irish language.

The preparation of the National Plan is in line with achieving the overarching objective of the Act; that 20% of recruits to the public sector will be competent in Irish by 31 December 2030. Furthermore, a specific commitment is included in the Government's Civil Service Renewal Strategy 2030 to implement this plan.

A wide range of stakeholders at a senior level are represented on this statutory committee – including the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, and the Public Appointments Service. Representation on the Committee was carefully selected to ensure maximum impact and buy-in across the public sector, particularly in the context of central recruitment for Government Departments and public offices.

The work of the Committee will be an important element in supporting all Departments and public bodies in meeting their statutory obligations and ensuring the full and successful implementation of the Act.

The Act also stipulates that the Committee will have a specific function in advising public bodies on the level of competence required by a person to provide public services through the medium of Irish, in accordance with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The Committee will also have a particular role in increasing the services provided by public bodies through the medium of Irish - particularly those provided in Gaeltacht Language Planning Areas, Gaeltacht Service Towns and Irish Language Networks.

In regard to increasing the number of individuals with Irish language competence available to provide Irish-medium public services, the following measures are underway:

I allocated an increased grant to Conradh na Gaeilge for the administration and provision of Gluaiseacht - a roadshow in which interactive workshops are provided to young people attending post-primary schools, third level institutions or summer colleges - to influence over 28,000 young people per year in relation to the employment opportunities with Irish;

I recently allocated a grant of over €1m across a three-year period to Oireachtas na Gaeilge to establish an Irish language network to support Irish speakers and learners, who are already working in the public sector, in using their Irish in the workplace;

A tender process will soon be announced by my Department in relation to the expansion of the Advanced Irish Language Skills Initiative to focus further on training and recruitment in Ireland;

My Department has committed in the Government's Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021–2025 to the development of a Speisialtóir Gaeilge - Irish Language Specialist programme (EO generalist with Irish language competency) - which is to be rolled out by Quarter 3 of 2025;

A campaign will be launched by my Department in the coming months to foster awareness of the employment opportunities that exist in the public sector for those with Irish language competence;

A wide range of other measures in this space are also being examined, including competitions for communications specialist roles with Irish.

Of course another key facet in achieving the statutory targets included in the Act will be the development of the existing public sector Irish language capacity by supporting employees in using the language in the workplace. In this context, existing civil servants are being encouraged to pursue Irish language training courses provided by Gaelchultúr on behalf of OneLearning - the Learning and Development Centre for the Civil Service - with Maynooth University now certifying these courses using the Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge (“TEG”) language testing regime. This certification is of particular importance, with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, on which TEG is based, being mentioned specifically in the Act, as noted above. TEG qualifications will, therefore, be of particular value in the coming years for both learners and employers alike, as individuals with particular language skills will be sought for a wide variety of diverse roles across the public sector.

Finally, and in addition to the projects and measures I have already mentioned, I secured a further allocation of €0.5m in Budget 2024, in addition to the €1m already in place to achieve this ambitious recruitment target as well as the overall objectives of the Act. This additional funding will be used to bolster the efforts of my Department to embed the provisions of the Act across the public sector to the benefit of the Irish speaking community within and outside the Gaeltacht.

I am hopeful that, through these measures, the Irish language customer experience will be greatly enhanced, empowering Irish speakers to use the language in all aspects their lives - particularly in their dealings with the State.