Vol. 501 No. 6
62 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 310 of 2 March 1999, she will itemise the information referred to in the final paragraph of the reply regarding changes to the Gaeltacht boundaries; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7190/99]
The information I referred to in Question No. 310 of 2 March 1999 includes the statistical data on Irish language usage available from the last census; the information that my Department has acquired from the operation of scéim labhairt na Gaeilge; the information and knowledge that the officers of my Department based in the Gaeltacht have on the subject; and the information acquired by Údarás na Gaeltachta agus Áras Uí Chadhain, Coláiste na Gaillimhe, and other relevant bodies.
This is fairly scant information from a Government source. An independent study is now called for to evaluate matters in the Gaeltacht and how the revival is being effected. The information just indicated to the House is pretty miserable in terms of the sort of in depth study that is required.
Mar a duirt mé i bhfreagra eile don gceist seo, sílim gur tráth gníomheach é seo agus ní tráth tuilleadh staidéir é.
As I have said in a previous answer to a similar question, we now need action. We have very accurate information, and from my experience in looking at the breakdown of this information by district electoral division, the information in both the scéim labhairt na Gaeilge results and the census mirror what I would have perceived as the situation on the ground, given a detailed knowledge of the situation on a townland by townland basis. We already know the difficulties or otherwise of the language in the Gaeltacht. We also have a good idea of the various pressures being put on the language. We need to address those issues in a positive way, and I have taken steps to initiate that work rather than perennially coming back with information already available to us.
Does the Minister of State agree that the information in his reply is effectively in-house information, and that the study that was in the process of being commissioned for his Department was to look at his Department's schemes and what Údarás na Gaeltachta was doing? While I am not inferring that somebody would be less than objective, there is a need for an overall view of this matter. The Minister of State spoke about action; will he indicate what action we can expect in the next month, the next six months, the next year and the lifetime of this Government? It seems we are hearing about action, but we are not seeing any.
In relation to this information, the first part is totally independent. The Central Statistics Office's obligation is to provide accurate data for the State. I hope the Deputy is not impugning its independence and objectivity. In relation to the information on scéim labhairt na Gaeilge, the Deputy will probably be aware that that scheme is administered by Department officials talking to children. Those officials are highly competent, and the results of the scéim labhairt na Gaeilge mirror what the census has told us. It also mirrors what those of us who live in and are familiar with the Gaeltacht know to be the facts from experience.
I have no doubt what the situation is. The terms of the proposed study, were too restrictive. It proposed looking at the effects of my Department's schemes on Irish in the Gaeltacht. However, their effect is totally positive, because my Department operates through Irish. We also know that a large number of Government agencies in the Gaeltacht operate through English, and it would be more to the point to examine the effect they are having on the Gaeltacht rather than examining the effect of my Department's schemes, which is a positive one. It is obvious to those of us in the Gaeltacht that people there ritually deal with my Department in Irish, while they deal with other State agencies through English, as they feel the other agencies do not have a competence to deal with them in Irish. Whether that is true, it is the perception. Pressure is not coming on Irish from my Department's schemes, and examining those schemes is of relative little merit.
In language planning, we must look at the total effect of all influences on the Gaeltacht. We are already at the negotiation stage in the development of language plans for the Gaeltacht. It is unfortunate that this did not happen years ago or during the life of the previous Government, but we are now actively involved in this work. We are drawing up plans and are in negotiation. I hope to make an announcement on this matter in the relatively near future, though I do not know if that will be in one month or six weeks. We are talking about a timeframe to get pilot schemes going. I want to deal with the basic information we have and to deal with the issues recognised as being involved.
Is the Minister of State telling me there is no validity in an in-depth, independent and external study of the Gaeltacht and how the various schemes in the Gaeltacht are impacting on Irish as a means of communication there? In terms of action, is he saying that some form of ill-defined action will be taken at some undefined future time?
I am saying that defined action will be taken at a defined time in the future. At that time the Deputy will be aware of the details of the action. I am not in a position today to give details of those programmes as they are still being worked out.
The previous study would have been very expensive; that money would have been better used in doing something about Irish in the Gaeltacht. The terms of reference referred specifically to the schemes operated by my Department, which operates in a proactive way in the Gaeltacht. Neither my Department nor its activities are damaging the language in the Gaeltacht. However, a wide range of forces, including the media, State and private services, are impacting severely on the language in the Gaeltacht. Given that we have to live in the real world, we will concentrate on those issues. I do not see any advantage in attacking or studying in depth the schemes specifically run in the Irish language for the good of the language. That is a most peculiar way of tackling the problem.
