Vol. 567 No. 7
251 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the amount of money his Department has spent on the Irish language in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15079/03]
252 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs his Department's objective in relation to its expenditure on the Irish language; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15093/03]
253 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the monitoring system his Department has in place in regard to his Department's objective in relation to the Irish language; the expenditure in achieving that objective; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15107/03]
I propose to take Question Nos. 251 to 253, inclusive, together.
As the Deputy is aware, it has been the policy of successive Governments to provide positive support for the Irish language, as our national language and the first official language under the Constitution. Irish is a vital part of the State's heritage and my Department has been given a mandate by Government to support the extension of the use of Irish countrywide and the maintenance of the Irish language in the Gaeltacht, the primary source of the living language.
My Department's strategic objectives in relation to the Irish language are: to ensure better provision of public services through Irish; to strengthen Irish as the principal community language in the Gaeltacht, particularly in terms of passing the language from one generation to the next; to support Foras na Gaeilge in its task of increasing the use of the Irish language in everyday life throughout the island of Ireland; and to provide definitive Irish forms of the place names of Ireland for official and public use.
A range of outputs, together with relevant performance indicators, have been identified for the purpose of achieving the furtherance of these strategic objectives. The monitoring system which examines achievement of the objectives includes formal and informal reporting and review by the Department and by other agencies as appropriate, for example, the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General. The democratic process and customer service plans also have a role.
