Department seeks increase in Irish speakers to 250,000

INCREASING THE number of daily speakers of Irish from 83,000 to 250,000 is a key target in the Government's 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030, published yesterday.

The long-awaited document, issued in draft form by Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív, also seeks to increase the number of people with “a knowledge of Irish” from 1.66 million to two million.

The Cabinet Committee on Irish and the Gaeltacht, chaired by the Taoiseach, “will maintain oversight of progress and report to Government as necessary”.

The draft document states that: “There will continue to be a senior Minister and a Government department [the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs] with central responsibility for Irish language affairs.”

Planning and implementation of the plan will be directed by a strategy unit in the department.

The McCarthy report on public expenditure recommended that the department be abolished and its functions transferred to other departments.

The newly-published document proposes that Údarás na Gaeltachta would be “fundamentally restructured as a new national Irish language agency, Údarás na Gaeilge, with a wider remit than at present.

The restructured body would have “responsibility for Irish language matters throughout the State, as well as keeping many of its present functions”. The cross-Border Foras na Gaeilge would continue in existence.

Under a new Gaeltacht Act, communities that no longer met the standards required for designation as a Gaeltacht area would be given two years “to develop plans to ensure that they maintain their status”. The new legislation would also recognise “a further category of language community” outside the existing Gaeltacht, predominantly in urban communities.

The draft is due to go before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Gaeltacht Affairs for consideration.