Vol. 502 No. 3
503 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands the specific new measures, if any, introduced by her since this Government has come to office to improve the use of the Irish language within and outside of Gaeltacht areas to ensure that those who wish to interact with State services through the medium of the Irish language can do so with relative ease; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8115/99]
I refer the Deputy to my reply to Questions Nos. 69 and 79 of 9 March 1999. The Deputy will be aware that the core policy goal of my Department in relation to the Irish language is to reverse the decline in the use of the language as the principal means of communication in the Gaeltacht and to extend its use in the rest of the country generally. My Department will continue to maximise the use of the grant schemes and programmes at its disposal to achieve this aim. Since coming into office I have initiated a comprehensive review of these schemes with a view to identifying opportunities which could be exploited. This review is ongoing.
