Mary Upton
Ceist:78 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the progress made to date in implementing the report of the Gaeltacht Commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24067/03]
Other Questions. - Coimisiún na Gaeltachta.
The Deputy will be aware that the Official Languages Act 2002, which was enacted in July 2003, was one of the key recommendations contained in the report of Coimisiún na Gaeltachta. Implementation of this Act will address many of the issues raised in the report, particularly in relation to the provision of improved public services through Irish and the status of the Irish language in the Gaeltacht.
The Deputy will also be aware that I established an advisory committee in October 2002 to advise on the actions necessary to facilitate the practical implementation of various recommendations contained in the report. In the context of advice received from the committee, I am commissioning a comprehensive linguistic study of Irish usage in Gaeltacht areas. This will form the basis for the development of the Gaeltacht as an Irish-speaking area and for a review of Gaeltacht boundaries. Tenders in relation to this study are currently being evaluated by my Department with a view to appointing consultants and commencing the study in the very near future.
An action plan which will highlight the advantages of choosing Irish as the household language and which will primarily target parents in Gaeltacht areas, particularly those with young children, is currently being finalised. My Department is also finalising a review of existing schemes which play a significant role in regard to strengthening the usage and transmission of Irish in the Gaeltacht, namely, scéim labhairt na Gaeilge, scéim na gcúntóirí teanga and scéim na gcampaí samhraidh.
Among the other issues and initiatives being progressed or under consideration at present is a submission, highlighting the critical issues affecting the Irish language in primary and post-primary education in the Gaeltacht, which has been forwarded to An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta. The linguistic impact of planning policy in the Gaeltacht was the subject of submissions made by my Department to local authorities responsible for Gaeltacht areas in the context of the preparation and implementation of county development plans and local area development plans. Work is also in hand on the preparation of special support mechanisms for Gaeltacht communities in order to assist them in drawing up suitable language plans aimed at the maintenance and strengthening of the Irish language in the Gaeltacht. Proposals for the restructuring of Irish language pre-school services in the Gaeltacht administered by Údarás na Gaeltachta are nearing completion. I intend to press ahead with these and other initiatives in the coming months.
The Minister's reply bears a remarkable resemblance to one to a similar question on 25 June. Bille na Teanga has been passed into law but the linguistic study is still not under way. The Minister is not doing anything to effect this report. There is ongoing consultation with advisory committees and so on but does the Minister not agree that virtually nothing has happened in regard to the implementation of the recommendations of the report of Coimisiún na Gaeltachta since 25 June?
I totally disagree with the Deputy's proposition. There is a great deal of preparatory work and it is continuing apace. One of the implications of implementing reports of this type is the requirement for money. Therefore, some of the finalisation of this work has to be done in the context of the Estimates process. For example, one cannot implement An Teach Teanga without having a language commissioner, but I cannot have one without a budget line and I cannot get a budget line without an Estimate. Therefore, all these issues are moving towards a point and I am confident that, by the beginning of next year, we will be able to implement radical change in the way in which we promote the Irish language in the Gaeltacht. There will be some painful decisions to make because I must make choices in regard to where the new financial priorities are in terms of the Gaeltacht.
The Minister in his reply referred to reviewing the boundaries of the Gaeltacht, which is a critical issue in the commission report. Fundamentally, the Gaeltacht should be defined by where the Irish language is spoken as the majority language. Will that review be in place for the Údarás na Gaeltachta elections next year?
The Údarás na Gaeltachta elections will not be held in 2004.
I thought the Minister said they would be held by the spring of next year.
They will not be held until April 2005.
Have I heard wrongly?
The Deputy is mistaken. He will recall that, on the previous occasion, the local elections were held in June and the Údarás elections were held in December. At that time, I said it would be five years plus a bit to bring us up to the following spring, since I was unlikely to hold the elections in December again. That brings us to 2005.
I accept I was mistaken.
I cannot redraw the boundaries of the Gaeltacht, having received the liguistic report, without giving people in those areas a linguistic choice to make since part of the report addresses attitudes in areas as well as language usage. I cannot predetermine the boundaries until I get the report. There are issues in regard to boundaries, particularly in regard to the functional area of Údarás na Gaeltachta, which is now defined as the Gaeltacht. However, Údarás na Gaeltachta operates in the city of Galway, apart from the official Gaeltacht. There are complex issues which I will address in the coming year.
In regard to the boundaries of the Gaeltacht, it is disappointing to hear the Minister in regard to the delinking of the Údarás na Gaeltachta elections from the local elections. I would have thought that the constitutional provision for the holding of local government elections every five years should also apply to Údarás na Gaeltachta. Does the Minister intend to correct this matter once the boundaries are sorted out and the next set of Údarás na Gaeltachta elections are out of the way?
Would the Minister consider postponing the elections until the boundaries are finally set aside and settled since it would not make sense to proceed in the context of significant changes potentially excluding certain areas from the Gaeltacht?
Statute dictates that Údarás na Gaeltachta elections must be held within five and a half years of the date of the previous election. Therefore, I would have to come back before the House to postpone it. Most Gaeltacht people do not favour holding Údarás na Gaeltachta elections on the same day as the European and local elections because they feel they get lost in the process.
I accept that this is a democratic risk but, up to now, in areas where a very strong and very weak Gaeltacht are linked, such as in Galway city, there has been a low turnout in the areas in which the Irish language is not spoken. Therefore, it has not yet had an overweening effect. However, they could all turn out, which could upset the balance of representation on the board of Údarás na Gaeltachta. It is something I have considered seriously and will continue to consider. There are a number of remedies which I could put in place before the next elections as well as changing the Gaeltacht boundaries.