Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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718. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht his views on the merits of putting in place a quota, that would require a percentage of advertising to be produced through the Irish language for all advertising displayed, not just from Government agencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49638/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy should be aware that a new section, section 10A, was inserted into the Official Languages Act 2003 on the 10 October 2022, with the commencement of relevant provisions of the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021. Under this provision, public bodies are obliged to carry out at least 20% of their annual advertising in Irish and to spend at least 5% of their advertising budgets on advertising through Irish in the Irish language media. It has been an extremely positive provision that has greatly increased the visibility of the language across all media platforms used by public bodies.

This provision gives a clear and substantive message to the Irish-speaking community that, not only does the State value the language as a central part of our cultural heritage, but that it is also of economic benefit to its speakers. The Department is of the strong opinion that the State's efforts to promote the use of the language will be strengthened as a result, in keeping with aims of the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030.

In November 2024, An Coimisinéir Teanga published an overview of initial results of Section 10A of the Act regarding the implementation of the advertising provision in 2023. This report demonstrated overall positive results regarding the implementation of the provision, with spending of €14.2 million being made on Irish language advertising - €3.8m of which was spent on the Irish language media – and a large proportion of public bodies compliant with both parts of the provision. This demonstrates the strong commitment of public bodies to the language and is significantly contributing to the visibility of Irish in the media as noted above.

In regards to the Deputy's specific question, the provisions of the Official Languages Acts 2003 and 2021 apply solely to prescribed public bodies and, while there may be merits in doing so, a move towards extending same to the commercial sector would require a considerable amount of planning and investment, in addition to legislative change. As my Department's focus is currently aimed at the successful roll out of the provisions of the 2021 Act to the over 400 public bodies operating across the public sector, the Deputy will appreciate that it would not be feasible at this time to move towards extending similar provisions to the commercial sector.