I propose taking Questions Nos. 15 and 25 together.
The present situation in relation to the status of Irish in the European Union was established at our entry to the Community in 1973 and it has been given legal expression in Article 3 of our Accession Treaty. The effect is that Irish is a language of the Treaties and all the basic Treaties, including the Treaties of Accession, the Single European Act and the Maastricht Treaty are available in the Irish language. Irish is not, however, a working language of the Union and it was not included among the list of "official and working languages of the Institutions of the Community" which was appended to the legally binding instrument of the Council which formally established the language regime of the Union.
I am aware of the submission made by Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge on the status of the Irish language in the European Union. I am satisfied that it would not have been appropriate to have sought to raise an institutional matter of this kind in the course of the recently completed enlargement negotiations since we were anxious to see a speedy and successful conclusion which will allow the four applicant countries to accede to the Union by 1 January 1995. However, the question of the language regime to apply to Community institutions is likely to be one of the institutional issues which will be raised at the Intergovernmental Conference in 1996.
I have asked officials of my Department, with officials from other interested Departments, including in particular the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, to look into the matter in depth and to consider whether the Government should raise the issue of the status of Irish at the Intergovernmental Conference in 1996. I understand that they will be arranging an early meeting with representatives of Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge to discuss its views on the position of Irish in the European Union.