asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if he proposes to take any steps to limit or postpone the effect of the Gaeltacht Order on public officials where its effect is to deprive married men with families of their means of livelihood.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Public Officials v. Gaeltacht Order.
Amendments to the Gaeltacht Order are at present under consideration with a view to enabling extensions of the period for qualifying in Irish to be made where the facts warrant such an extension.
In view of the fact that the Order bears on a very important matter, that is the preservation of the Irish language in those districts where it is spoken, and its gradual spread, may we have an assurance that any Order that will be issued will be issued after examination of the question by the Executive Council and not purely from a Departmental point of view?
The matter of issuing an extending Order is receiving the most careful consideration of the Department, and I am sure it will receive the careful consideration of the Executive Council, but a number of irregularities have arisen out of the manner in which the recent extending Orders have been administered Departmentally. The whole question has reached a stage now of considerable confusion. It appears to me that legislation will be necessary to regularise some of the appointments that have been made under the Gaeltacht Order.
May I ask if it was not the purpose of this Order originally not only to promote the preservation of the language, but to promote the goodwill that is growing in the country towards the policy of its preservation, and is the procedure of throwing married men and their families on the side of the road to starve, calculated to promote the growth of that goodwill for which the Department and the Government are working?