asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will state the districts which, for purposes of his Department, are regarded as Irish-speaking districts; the classifications, if any, into which they are divided; and the purposes for which differentiation is made between these districts and the rest of the country.
Written Answers. - Irish-speaking Districts.
For the purposes of the Population Census my Department makes a distinction between the Irish-speaking districts and the rest of the country. The districts treated for this purpose as Irish-speaking are those defined by the Gaeltacht Commission of 1925 as Gaeltacht and Breach-Gaeltacht.
asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if he will state the districts which, for purposes of his Department, are regarded as Irish-speaking districts; the classifications, if any, into which they are divided; and the purposes for which differentiation is made between these districts and the rest of the country.
The Schedule to the Local Officers (Irish Language) Regulations, 1944 (Statutory Rules and Orders, 1944, No. 76), sets out the areas which are regarded as Gaeltacht districts for the purposes of prescribing that persons who do not possess a knowledge of Irish on appointment to certain offices shall cease to hold office at the expiration of three years from appointment unless they satisfy the Minister that they possess a knowledge of the language sufficient to enable them to perform their duties through the medium of the language. There are no classifications of areas in the Order.
The scheme for the training in nursing of Irish-speaking girls applies to Irish-speaking girls who have been normally resident in the Fíor-Ghaeltacht during the 15 years preceding their application. The Fíor-Ghaeltacht for the purposes of the scheme includes those areas which, in the opinion of the inspectors of the Department of Education, conform generally to the definitions of Fíor-Ghaeltacht in the Report of the Gaeltacht Commission of 1926.
The provision of free school meals for Gaeltacht areas is governed by the School Meals (Gaeltacht) Act, 1930. The district electoral divisions comprised in the Gaeltacht for the purposes of the Act are shown in the Schedule to the Act.
asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will state the districts which, for purposes of his Department, are regarded as Irish-speaking districts; the classifications, if any, into which they are divided; and the purposes for which differentiation is made between these districts and the rest of the country.
For the purposes of the special Gaeltacht development schemes operated by my Department, the Irish-speaking areas are regarded as comprising those district electoral divisions set out in the Schedule to the Housing (Gaeltacht) Act, 1929, which are within the limits of the congested districts counties as defined in the Irish Land Act, 1909.
The special Gaeltacht development schemes comprise:— (a) Poultry development scheme (confined to Connemara and West Donegal); (b) tree planting scheme (confined to Connemara, County Mayo (West) and County Clare (West); (c) scheme of loans for the erection of glasshouses; (d) scheme for the supply of beehives and swarms.
These schemes were initiated with a view to meeting the special circumstances and needs of the Irish-speaking areas in which they operate. Owing to conditions arising out of the world war, the glasshouse loan scheme has been in abeyance since 1941.
asked the Minister for Finance if he will state the districts which, for purposes of his Department, are regarded as Irish-speaking districts; the classifications, if any, into which they are divided; and the purposes for which differentiation is made between these districts and the rest of the country.
In regard to the first part of the question, the definitions of an "Irish-speaking district" and a "partly Irish-speaking district" recommended in the Report of Coimisiún na Gaeltachta, and subsequently adopted by the Government, are still used. As far as my Department is concerned, differentiation between these districts and the rest of the country arises almost entirely in connection with the work of the local offices of the Revenue Commissioners where officers of customs and excise and income-tax and investigation staffs are employed. The work of these offices is so arranged that it is normally possible for any member of the public to discharge his business in Irish.
asked the Minister for Education if he will state the districts which, for purposes of his Department, are regarded as Irish-speaking districts; the classifications, if any, into which they are divided; and the purposes for which differentiation is made between these districts and the rest of the country.
Irish-speaking districts are divided, for the purposes of the Department of Education into three classes: (1) Breac-Ghaeltacht areas; (2) Gaeltacht areas; and (3) Fíor-Ghaeltacht areas.
The Breac-Ghaeltacht and Gaeltacht areas are as set out in the Gaeltacht Commission Report, 1926. The Fíor-Ghaeltacht comprises the intensely Irish-speaking areas of the Gaeltacht as follows:—
(a) Corca Dhuibhne west and north-west of Daingean Uí Chúise.
(b) The district of Baile na Sceilge in County Kerry.
(c) Oileán Cléire and the districts of Béal Atha an Ghaorthaidh and Baile Mhúirne in County Cork.
(d) An Rinn, Portláirge.
(e) The districts of Rath Cairn and Baile Gib in County Meath
(f) Oileáin Árainn and Conamara from outside Cathair na Gaillimhe to Caiseal.
(g) The districts of Gob a' Ghoire, Tuar Mhic Eadaigh and Gaoth Sáile in County Mayo.
(h) The west central area of Tír Chonaill as well as the district of Gleann Colmchille.
Differentiation is made between the Irish-speaking districts and the rest of the country as follows:—
(1) A grant of £5 is paid annually to parents (or guardians) in the Irish-speaking districts in respect of each child, between the ages of six and 16, attending school in these districts, where the Department is satisfied that Irish is the language of the home;
(2) A national teacher must hold the Teastas Dá-Theangach in order to be eligible for appointment to a national school in the Irish-speaking districts;
(3) Grants for teaching through Irish are paid to national teachers in the Fíor-Ghaeltacht;
(4) Twenty-five per cent. of the vacancies in preparatory colleges are reserved for students from the Fíor-Ghaeltacht;
(5) Eighteen scholarships in secondary schools and five scholarships in Coláiste na hIolscoile, Gaillimh, are granted annually to students from the Fíor-Ghaeltacht;
(6) A number of scholarships to Coláiste Muire le Tios, Sráid Cathal Brugha, are awarded annually to applicants from the Fíor-Ghaeltacht.
asked the Minister for Justice if he will state the districts which, for purposes of his Department, are regarded as Irish-speaking districts; the classifications, if any, into which they are divided; and the purposes for which differentiation is made between these districts and the rest of the country.
Mr. Boland
The only purpose for which a formal definition of Irish-speaking districts has been made in this Department is in connection with the sole use of Irish by members of the Gárda Síochána in districts which are regarded as Irish-speaking districts, and in which a special "Gaeltacht" allowance is paid to members of the Gárda Síochána.
The districts are as follows:— Galway, Clifden and Oughterard, in the Division of Galway West Riding; Milford, Killybegs and Clogher in the Division of Donegal; and Waterville and Dingle in the Division of Kerry.
asked the Minister for Defence if he will state the districts which, for purposes of his Department, are regarded as Irish-speaking districts; the classifications, if any, into which they are divided; and the purposes for which differentiation is made between these districts and the rest of the country.
The districts which for the purposes of my Department are regarded as Irish speaking are as follows:—(1) West and North-west Donegal; (2) West Mayo; (3) East Galway (part of), Connemara and islands off the coast; (4) West and South-west Kerry; (5) West Cork; (6) Loop Head area of County Clare. Differentiation is made between these districts and the rest of the country for the purpose of recruiting and location and training of Irish-speaking units.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will state the districts which, for purposes of his Department, are regarded as Irish-speaking districts; the classifications, if any, into which they are divided; and the purposes for which differentiation is made between these districts and the rest of the country.
The Department of Posts and Telegraphs regards as Irish-speaking districts those areas which were defined as such by Coimisiún na Gaeltachta. The districts are classified as Irish speaking and partly Irish speaking in accordance with map No. 3 attached to the Report of the Coimisiún dated 14adh Iúl, 1926.
The differentiation between these districts and the rest of the country is for the purpose of compliance with general Government policy in regard to Irish and to ensure that as far as possible Post Office officials in these areas, in particular, are competent to transact business in Irish.
asked the Minister for Lands if he will state the districts which, for purposes of his Department, are regarded as Irish-speaking districts; the classifications, if any, into which they are divided; and the purposes for which differentiation is made between these districts and the rest of the country.
Irish-speaking districts are enumerated in the schedule to the Housing (Gaeltacht) Act, 1929. There are, in addition, the Irish-speaking districts in County Meath constituted in recent times by the migration of families from the scheduled Gaeltacht districts. For the purposes of my Department the Irish-speaking districts are not divided into any classifications.
Mainly through historical causes the scheduled Gaeltacht districts present special economic and social problems, the alleviation of which necessitates measures not applicable to the rest of the country. The need for such differentiation has for long been acknowledged, as is evidenced by the activities of the former Congested Districts Board, whose work in the fostering of employment and the improvement of housing and general conditions has been continued and expanded by the branch of my Department dealing specially with the Irish-speaking districts, viz., Serbhísí na Gaeltachta, and by the Land Commission.