asked the Taoiseach if he will state the names and the extent of all the Gaeltacht areas in the State, and the Irish speaking population of each area in the years 1948 and 1958.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Gaeltacht Areas: Irish Speaking Population.
1.
There has been a number of different definitions of the Gaeltacht for various purposes. The Report of the Gaeltacht Commission, 1925, sets out the areas determined by the Commission as a result of a special census made in August of that year, to be Fíor-Ghaeltacht (i.e. Irish speaking) and Breac Gaeltacht (i.e. partly Irish speaking) areas. Two further definitions of the Gaeltacht were adopted for the purpose of the Housing (Gaeltacht) Act, 1929, and The School Meals (Gaeltacht) Act, 1933. More recently the Gaeltacht has been defined in the Gaeltacht Areas Order 1956, for the purpose of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act, 1956, under which the separate Gaeltacht Department was set up.
The only Gaeltacht areas in respect of which separate statistics of the Irish speaking population are available are Fíor-Ghaeltacht and Breac-Ghaeltacht areas defined in the Report of the Gaeltacht Commission, 1925. Figures are not available however for the years specified by the Deputy. The most recent statistics which can be furnished relate to 1946. The total number of Irish speakers returned for Gaeltacht areas in that year was 192,963. For details I would refer the Deputy to Volume VIII of the Report of the 1946 Census.
Do we know how the language in the Gaeltacht has progressed since 1946?
That is a separate question.
Am I not right in thinking there was a later census of Irish speakers taken prior to the setting up of the Ministry for the Gaeltacht?
I am not so aware.
Is there a later figure than 1946?
There is not.
Was there not a special census taken in relation to the setting up of the Ministry for the Gaeltacht?
No.
It was carried out by machinery set up by the Central Statistics Office.
I shall look into that.