Vol. 572 No. 6
113 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the progress made to date in regard to the implementation of the Irish Language Act 2003; the role his Department will play in regard to monitoring the implementation of the provisions; if an assessment has been undertaken of the staffing implications for the public service generally of the provisions of the Act; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24046/03]
Since the enactment of the Official Languages Act in July last, my Department has written to the approximately 650 public bodies covered by its provisions to provide them with a copy of the Act and a summary of its main provisions. The Department is also providing briefing sessions for public bodies which so request to further inform them of the implications of the Act and to discuss its specific implications for them. In addition, preliminary work has commenced on the preparation of regulations in relation to the use of official languages on stationery, signage, advertising and in oral announcements. I expect to be in a position to commence Part 5 of the Act which deals with place names in the near future and to make the first orders under that Part this year.
As the Deputy is aware, the Act includes provision for the establishment of the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga. The coimisinéir will be independent in the functions of his or her duties. Those functions will include monitoring and ensuring compliance with the Act. It is my intention that the office of the coimisinéir will be in put in place early in 2004. My Department is currently engaged in necessary preparatory work in that regard. My Department is also responsible for agreeing statutory schemes with the head of each public body in accordance with the Act. This will involve negotiation with and provision of advice to public bodies. Each scheme will run for three years and thereafter fall to be renewed. I am already on record as saying that I intend to use the renewal process to secure further real improvements over time in the availability and quality of public services through the Irish language.
It is not expected that the implementation of the Act will have any overall effect on total public service numbers. Full implementation of the Act will require us to draw on the language competences of significant numbers of people across both the public and private sectors. It is more appropriate, therefore, to focus on the Irish language capability requirements arising from the Act. In that context, I have made reference to up to 2,000 such persons being affected. Significant competence is already in place. However, developing additional capability will challenge public bodies in the areas of human resources management and recruitment policy as implementation of the Act progresses over time.
