Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 June 2004
13 Mr. Boyle asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the actions he has undertaken during Ireland’s Presidency of the European Union to gain full working language status for the Irish language within the EU. [16829/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have already addressed this issue in my reply to Priority Question No. 1, which was put down to me in the Irish language on today's Order Paper. As indicated in that reply, the working group set up by Government to examine this issue has now reported. Its report is currently being examined by relevant Ministers and I expect that the issue will be brought formally to Government very shortly. Until my Government colleagues have formally had an opportunity to consider the issue in detail, I do not propose to say anything further publicly on the matter.
Tá Ceist Uimh. 62, in ainm an Teachta Trevor Sargent, ar an ábhar seo chomh maith. I heard the Minister's earlier reply and heard him say previously that the Irish EU Presidency cannot speak on behalf of this country's interest. However, I would have thought that part of the Presidency process was the logistical difficulties involved in incorporating the nine new languages coming on-stream with the joining of the EU by the accession countries. Such logistical problems will affect all the operations of the Union from now on. In this context, not to include Irish as one of the working languages of the EU is not only an oversight but a failure to make the argument that many in this country feel the Government should and could have made. Given the Minister's reluctance to comment further on this, we will wait to discover whether any further action will be taken in the remaining days of the month.
Nothing will happen.
I want to explain about procedures. The decision was made in regard to the accession countries on the day the accession treaty was signed, not on 1 May this year. This pre-dated our Presidency quite considerably. It was implemented and came into effect on 1 May. I accept there was a difficulty in regard to Malta, for which a special derogation has been provided because enough translation staff could not be obtained by Brussels to translate all European legislation as it is published. Without this derogation, a major impediment would have been created.
There is a convention whereby countries do not put forward issues in their own interest during their Presidency. If there is a time for dealing with this issue, it was when our Presidency finishes. I assure the Deputy there will not, within the month, be an official application to the European Union to have Irish included as an official working language. The time to do this is when Ireland does not hold the EU Presidency.
Those who have peddled the line, month after month, that there was some opportunity to be missed were wrong on two counts: first, because the date 1 May had no relevance to the issue and, second, because the Presidency was the period when it would have been improper for Ireland to have promoted this issue.
Of course there was an opportunity. The Minister is being ridiculous.
We will deal with this issue.
Written Answers follow Adjournment Debate.
