Progress made towards a bilingual public service shown in newly published reports
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From: Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht
- Published on: 27 October 2025
- Last updated on: 27 October 2025
- Ministerial Report on implementation of Official Languages Acts between 2022-2024 published
- First Progess Report of the Irish Language Services Advisory Committee (June 2022 to December 2023) published
- Commentary of An Coimisinéir Teanga on Advisory Committee’s report published
The Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, Dara Calleary TD, today welcomed the publication of various reports relating to the move towards a bilingual public service.
His own report gives an overview of all the work undertaken under the language legislation since the enactment of the Official Languages (Amendment) Act, 2021 at the end of that year, with work ongoing since to ensure the full and successful implementation of the amended legislation. The report also gives insights into further achievements to come in 2025.
The highlights of the work to date include the advertising provision – an extremely positive provision that has contributed greatly to the visibility of the language on all media platforms used by Government Departments and public bodies. There have also been developments in Irish-language courses provided to civil servants, with Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge accrediting these courses from 2022 onwards, with beginners and high-level (C1) classes also being provided in this time. An Irish Language Network has also been established for the public sector, which provides fun and informal opportunities for both learners and fluent speakers in the system to use and develop their language skills. Gluaiseacht, an awareness initiative run by Conradh na Gaeilge, is also supported and focuses on drawing the attention of young people to the many employment opportunities with Irish available to them across the public sector, among other things – with a reach of 42,500 young people per year. A number of other awareness measures were undertaken, from information seminars for public bodies to the preparation of a major national campaign.
One of the most significant achievements was the publication of the first National Plan for Irish Language Public Services in the history of the State in October 2024. This research-based Plan was prepared by the Irish Language Services Advisory Committee, which was also established under the Act.
The second report published today relates to the progress made by that Committee since its establishment in mid-2022 to the end of 2023 (in-line with the reporting period specified in the Act). There is broad representation at a senior level on this Committee from across the public sector, with it providing invaluable opportunities for problem-solving and sharing strategies among other things. The Commentary from An Coimisinéir Teanga on that same report has also been published alongside it. This Committee expects to publish the first Action Plan under the National Plan shortly.
Speaking today, Minister Calleary said:
“The reports published today give a clear account to the public of the important and innovative work which has been done and is being done by my Department, by the Advisory Committee and by the relevant organisations, as well as the wider public sector, to promote the Irish language and embed it into our services.
The Advisory Committee is to be commended for the amount of work it has completed since its establishment – with the preparation of the National Plan, of course, being a highlight. I would also like to express my thanks to An Coimisinéir Teanga for the valuable insights he has provided in his own commentary, which will be taken into account as this work develops in the coming period.
My own report on the implementation of the Act emphasises how much work is being undertaken since the strengthened Act was enacted four years ago. As previously mentioned, this time has been used to establish many new structures and develop many new relationships across the public sector – something that is demonstrated throughout this report. All this work has ensured that the ecosystem we are developing under the Act is set on strong foundations. I announced the establishment of the Technical Working Group under the National Plan last week, for example, and I hope to make many more announcements relating to this matter from now until the end of the year.”
Notes
Link to Ministerial Report on the Implementation of the Act 2022-2024 here (bilingual version)
Link to the First Progress Report of the Irish Language Services Advisory Committee (June 2022 to December 2023) here (bilingual version)
Link to An Coimisinéir Teanga's Commentary on the Report of the Advisory Committee here (bilingual version)
General information on the Official Languages Acts here (GA/EN)
Previous announcements on progress under the Act here (GA/EN)
Information on the Irish Language Services Advisory Committee here (GA/EN)
Information on the National Plan for Irish Language Public Services here (GA/EN)
An Coimisinéir Teanga’s Overview of Initial Results of Article 10A (the advertising provision) here (GA/EN)
Information on the Public Sector Irish Language Network here (GA/EN) and here
Information on Gluaiseacht, the awareness initiative (GA/EN)