The Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Mr Eamon O Cuiv, has criticised Government Departments and agencies for failing to provide services in Irish.
Mr O Cuiv said yesterday there were some parts of the State where Irish was spoken, but people were forced to do their business in English because civil servants and those employed by Government Departments did not have the Irish language.
He said the new Languages Equality Bill, to be published early next year, aimed to reverse the situation. The legislation would allow customers to be served in the language of their choice and for some Government Departments and agencies to have units in Gaeltacht areas where business would be done through Irish.
Mr O Cuiv said the Government had also approved proposals to amend legislation to give more power to Udaras na Gaeltachta, the State agency responsible for industrial development in Gaeltacht regions.
Under the amendments, the number of members of Udaras na Gaeltachta is to be increased from 13 to 20, with 17 to be elected by the people of the Gaeltacht, and seven Udaras constituencies are to be established, one for each county which has a Gaeltacht area.
Funding for Udaras na Gaeltachta this year would be increased from £24.05 million to £29.85 million.