Ba mhaith liom my bhuíochas a ghabháil leis na Seanadóirí mar gheall ar an méid atá ráite inniu ar ár dteanga. Tá sé an-tábhachtach ach go mbeidh athrú san Bille seo chun ár dteanga a chur ar aghaidh agus chun cinn. Tá sé an-tábhachtach do na daoine atá ina gconaí sna Gaeltachtaí agus daoine eile a bhíonn ag labhairt na Gaeilge de ghnáth.
I thank Senators for their comments on behalf of our native language. I agree that the Irish language should be recognised in this legislation. It is important not only for the sake of the language but also for the sake of people who live in Gaeltacht areas and ordinarily speak Irish and for those outside Gaeltachta who prefer to speak Irish. My amendment seeks to insert a new paragraph (d) to section 7(2) which provides that the strategic plan of the Courts Service should have regard to Government policy on promoting bilingualism. It requires in particular that regard should be had to the need to ensure that an adequate number of staff at the service are competent to provide service in Irish as well as English.
It is essential that the Bill recognises the importance of the right to use Irish in legal proceedings which have been recognised by the courts and the need to ensure that persons who wish to use Irish for official purposes should not be inconvenienced any more than those who use English. Senators spoke strongly about the need for the Courts Service to provide in the Bill for Irish language services. I have consulted with my colleague, Deputy Ó Cuív, Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, and I am satisfied that the amendment I propose is the most effective way to ensure that the Courts Service has a statutory responsibility to provide services through the medium of Irish in the future.
Section 7 provides that the strategic plan of the service must be submitted to the Minister and laid before each House of the Oireachtas. The Minister has the power to approve the strategic plan with or without amendment. This provision gives the Minister a significant role in relation to the strategic plan. Under the criteria set out in paragraph (c) relating to the best use of the service's resources and under the proposed paragraph (d), provision of an Irish language service must be observed in the formulation of the service's strategic plan. A particular concern in this regard is the provision in the plan in respect of the delivery of service in Irish in court offices serving areas where Irish is in general use.
Senator O'Meara's amendments are the same as those proposed and circulated by Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge. They seek to ensure that all the services and facilities of the courts are available through the medium of Irish and English and that courts operating in Gaeltacht areas function through the medium of Irish; that the strategic plan of the service should contain details of how the service intends to ensure the effective delivery of its services and the services of the courts through the medium of Irish to residents of the Gaeltacht and to Irish speakers who live outside the Gaeltacht; that there will be represented on the board a person who, in the Minister's opinion, has relevant knowledge and experience of the effective delivery of services through the medium of Irish and who is nominated by the Minister after consultation with such bodies as the Minister considers are representative of such interests in the State and that the board should ensure that the number of staff appointed in each grade should include a sufficient number whose competence in Irish is such as to ensure that the service can effectively deliver all its services through the medium of Irish and English.
The Government amendment is similar to amendments Nos. 13 and 32 in that it seeks to underpin the Government policy to promote bilingualism and, in that context, to ensure that staff can provide a service through Irish and that this is done in the context of the service's strategic plan. The other amendments proposed by the Senator would make it mandatory for the service to provide all its facilities and services through Irish as well as English. This might be interpreted to mean that every court in the country would be equally in a position to provide services through Irish or English. While this is a desirable objective, it would place too great a burden in the short term on the Courts Service. If the Department had to ensure that the Courts Service would be in a position to comply with those requirements, the effect of accepting the amendments might be likely to delay for a considerable time the establishment of the Courts Service.
I am reluctant to amend the constitution of the board in the manner proposed by the Senator. The board comprises members who are representative of groups or bodies with a direct function and relationship with the Courts Service. The new requirements proposed to be inserted in section 7 will, of themselves, ensure that the board will have the effective delivery of services through Irish on its agenda.
Overall, my response to Senator O'Meara's amendments is that I consider that the current legislative provisions and the case law relating to the use of Irish in legal proceedings taken together with my amendment to section 7 are sufficient to ensure that persons wishing to conduct their business through Irish in the courts can be appropriately facilitated. In particular, the Courts of Justice Act, 1924, provides that as far as practicable a district judge or judge of the Circuit Court assigned to an area which includes an area where the Irish language is in general use shall possess such knowledge of Irish as would enable that judge to dispense with the assistance of an interpreter when hearing evidence in Irish.
My amendment arises from consultations with my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, who has responsibility for both the Gaeltacht and the State's policy on bilingualism. What I propose goes a long way to meet what I describe as the understandable concerns which have been raised and which I share. I propose a practical recognition of the importance of the Irish language. The approach would not result in delays in the establishment of the Courts Service which would be the unintentional effect of Senator O'Meara's amendments. In the circumstances, I ask the Senator to consider withdrawing her amendments. Tá mé an-bhuíoch don Seanadóir as ucht an méid atá ráite aici ar son ár dteanga inniu.