Fourth annual report on progress of Action Plan for the Irish Language 2018-2023 approved by Government and launched by Ministers

This fourth report, spanning the year 2022, provides an overview of the performance of the 185 measures in the plan. Last year the plan was extended by one year, and will now be in operation until the end of 2023.

Along with the launch of the fourth annual report, funding was approved for the formation of an independent organisation to review the Action Plan for the Irish Language 2018-2023 and to make recommendations for a new action plan.

Launching the report, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin said:

Speaking about the report, the Minister of State for the Gaeltacht Patrick O’Donovan said:

The main achievements in 2022 include:

• a number of significant provisions of the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021 were brought into force in 2022, namely the establishment of the Irish Language Services Advisory Committee and the important work they will undertake regarding the preparation of the first National Plan for Irish Language Public Services as well as the advertising provision (Section 10A) which places additional responsibilities on public bodies regarding advertising in the Irish language and on Irish language media and which has contributed greatly to the visibility of the language across every media platform used by state organisations
• a fund of more than €4.3 million over three years was approved for the Irish Language Networks Development Scheme, which commenced in January 2022. This is a major Foras na Gaeilge support scheme aimed at 36 Irish language public sector and voluntary committees through which a network of 28 Irish language development officers are employed in the localities of the Irish language committees to implement a public development programme
• the Digital Plan for the Irish Language, 2023-2027, was published in December 2022. The publication of the Digital Plan is the result of years of academic research and development, and can be considered a roadmap which sets out the way in which Irish will be kept relevant into the future in the context of the role of technology in our day-to-day lives
• Foras na Gaeilge began new dictionary projects, an Irish-Irish dictionary and an Irish-English dictionary
• it was announced in September 2022 that dedicated funding was being provided to establish a television station specifically for children - Cúla4
• 945 new jobs were created in Údarás na Gaeltachta client companies in 2022
• 6 new language plans were approved in 2022 and by the end of 2022 a total of 36 language plans had been approved and 34 Language Planning Officers and Assistant Officers had been employed

A decision was made last year to add another year to the lifetime of the plan so that stakeholders could have the appropriate opportunity to supervise the operation of the measures and to address any delays which may have arisen from the pandemic. Another annual report is to be prepared for the year 2023 as a result of this.

More information is available about the Action Plan (PG5) and the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030 (S20) at the following link: 2018-2022.

Read the report here: Plean Gníomhaíochta 2018-2022.

Here is a general overview of the progress that has been made in the main areas of action of the plan.

Area of Action 1 - Education

The department’s Gaeltacht Education Division continued to provide advice and support to schools participating in the Gaeltacht School Recognition Team in partnership with the department Inspectorate and An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta (COGG) during 2022. There were once again high levels of participation in the Scheme: 80% of primary schools and 100% of post-primary schools. Those primary schools which chose not to take part in the Scheme were given another chance to participate in 2022. The details of the inspection process to confirm the formal recognition of the schools as Gaeltacht Schools were published in July 2022 and the process commenced in October 2022 with inspectors making assessment visits.

Changes were implemented for the Gaeltacht Entry Route to the Bachelors in Primary Education programme (general stream) (through the English language) with an increase in the required minimum grade for Leaving Certificate Irish from September 2022.

Participation continued to increase in the e-Hub project, the aim of which is to provide access to students in Gaeltacht areas to a wider range of subjects, in 2022 and a new subject, chemistry, was added to the project.

The department's support services for teachers and for agencies such as the National Educational Psychological Services and the National Council for Special Education continued to improve their ability to provide support to Gaeltacht schools and Irish-medium schools outside of the Gaeltacht.

Area of Action 2 – The Gaeltacht

By the end of 2022 a total of 36 language plans had been approved for 26 Gaeltacht Language Planning Areas, 7 Gaeltacht Service Towns and 3 Irish Language Networks (6 of which were approved in 2022).

34 Language Planning Officers and Assistant Language Planning Officers were employed under the process by the end of December 2022.

The department’s Community and Language Supports Programme continued to be used to support the language planning process.

Area of Action 3 – Language Transmission by the Family – Early Intervention

2,104 Gaeltacht children benefitted from activities organised by Tuismitheoirí na Gaeltachta with support from the department in 2022.

63 family networks were active within the Teanga Tí scheme during 2022.

Additional resources were provided on the website www.teangati.ie. These included supports for Play Groups, children under 3 years old and language awareness material.

Area of Action 4 – Administration, Services and Community

The Irish Language Services Advisory Committee was established under the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021 on the 20 June 2022, within the statutory deadline laid out for it under the Act.

A research contract was agreed with the University of Galway at the end of 2022 regarding preparation for the first National Plan for Irish Language Public Services by the Advisory Committee. The Plan will focus on, among other things, the ambitious recruiting target specified in the Act that 20% of recruits to the public services will be competent in Irish by the end of 2030.

An increased funding package of €1.605 million was approved for Lárionad na Gaeilge, Maynooth University for the 3-year period of 2022-2025 to increase the Lárionad’s capacity to run the language examination system, Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge, with respect to the implementation of the Act.

An increased allocation of €3.5 million was provided to the department’s capital fund in 2022 for developing Irish language centres outside of the Gaeltacht across the country, in keeping with the department’s various commitments in the Programme for Government, National Development Plan 2021-2030 (Project Ireland) and in this Action Plan.

A fund of more than €4.3 million over three years was approved for the Irish Language Networks Development Scheme, which commenced in January 2022. This is a major Foras na Gaeilge support scheme aimed at 36 Irish language public sector and voluntary committees and through which a network of 28 Irish language development officers are employed in the localites of the Irish language committees to implement a community development programme for the year.

Foras na Gaeilge provided funding for 91 approved summer camps during 2022.

65 grants were approved under the Youth Events Scheme for the school year 2022/2023.

Area of Action 5 – Media and Technology

TG4 continued commissioning and broadcasting content for the Irish language community. Regarding linear broadcasting, TG4 made continuing progress in respect of audience share. 3.7m people or 82% of the population watched TG4 at some point in 2022.

The strong growth continued throughout 2022 in viewership and audience of TG4’s non-linear digital media. There was an increase of nearly 120% to 136m hits on cross-platform videos of TG4 content (after a growth of 65% in 2021).

It was announced in September 2022 that dedicated funding was being provided to establish a dedicated children’s television channel - Cúla4.

Funding continued for the highly popular music station Raidió Rí Rá in 2022. Minister of State Chambers opened the station’s renovated studio in Dublin in May 2022.

Tech Féile was held in April 2022, along with the TechFest event for Creative Educators in November 2022.

The Digital Plan for the Irish Language, 2023-2027, was published in December 2022. The publication of the Digital Plan is the result of years of academic research and development, and can be considered a roadmap which sets out the way in which Irish will be kept relevant into the future in the context of the role of technology in our day-to-day lives. Significant funding continued to be invested in Irish language technological research in Dublin City University; Logainm.ie, Ainm.ie, Dúchas.ie and LEX/IATE are among the projects supported by the department in 2022.

Significant funding continued in Irish language technological research in Trinity College Dublin in 2022; Abair.ie, Róbóghlór and research on various access technologies for people with disabilities are among the projects supported by the department in 2022.

Additional funding was approved for the ADAPT Unit in Dublin City University for 2023, 2024 and 2025 in order to maintain and expand the existing eSTÓR data store’s supports and services and to digitise hard copies of Statutory Instruments which can be added to the eSTÓR collection.

Area of Action 6 – Dictionaries

During 2022, the Royal Irish Academy continued its work in delivering Foclóir Stairiúil na Gaeilge, with 90 million words now in the Historical Irish Corpus.

Foras na Gaeilge has begun new dictionary projects, an Irish-Irish dictionary and an Irish-English dictionary.

The Terminology Committee approved 3,950 new terms or revisions.

Funding continued for the successful European terminology project LEX.

Area of Action 7 – Legislation and Status

A number of significant provisions of the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021 were brought into force in 2022, namely the establishment of the Irish Language Services Advisory Committee and the important work they will undertake regarding the preparation of the first National Plan for Irish Language Public Services as well as the advertising provision (Section 10A) which places additional responsibilities on public bodies regarding advertising in the Irish language and on Irish language media and which has contributed greatly to the visibility of the language across every media platform used by state organisations.

A series of information seminars organised by the department, in collaboration with the Office of the Coimisinéir Teanga, were highly successful in raising awareness among the public bodies regarding the additional responsibilities which would be entering force under the Act, with more than 1,000 state employees attending those seminars.

As part of Conradh na Gaeilge's ‘Gluaiseacht’ roadshow funded by the department, 210 interactive workshops were organised with more than 10,000 second-level students to enable and encourage the students towards Irish language courses and various careers with Irish. At third level, 20 employment workshops were organised in various colleges throughout the year as well as reaching 3rd-level students.

The derogation on the use of the Irish language in the EU ended on 31 December 2021. There are now c. 200 people employed in high-quality jobs in Irish language units in the EU institutions.

A new stream of interpretation interns was added to the internships scheme in 2022. This additional development helped to provide trained interpreters with Irish to the European Commission and to develop the skills of three interpreters so that they can work in that field in the future.

Area of Action 8 – Economic Life

945 new jobs were created in Údarás na Gaeltachta client companies in 2022.

There were 8,235 jobs in client companies which receive support from the Údarás at the end of 2022. There was a net increase of 151 in the total amount of people employed.

Operational funding of €4.3 million was provided to 33 community development organisations.

The Board of Údarás na Gaeltachta approved 444 new jobs during 2022.

Up to €19.26 million in capital provision was approved during 2022 to renew and develop the business infrastructure of the Gaeltacht to assist in the development of employment and new initiatives.

Of the 185 actions in the Plan, 185 actions were to be implemented between 2018 and the end of 2022 as shown in the below graph – please note, however, that an additional year was added to this timescale to account for delays relating to COVID-19.