Government report reveals progress of 2018-2022 Action Plan to promote the Irish language
From Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Published on
Last updated on
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD and Minister of State for Sport and the Gaeltacht and Government Chief-Whip, Jack Chambers TD, today launched the first annual report on the progress of the 2018–2022 Action Plan for Irish for the period July 2018 to June 2019 on behalf of the government.
The publication of this report – which was submitted to Government last Tuesday – aligns with the commitment made when the Action Plan was launched in June 2018 for the annual publication of such a report, in the interests of transparency and accountability. While it had been the intention to publish the report at the beginning of this year, its publication had to be deferred due primarily to the pandemic.
It provides an insight into what has been achieved by the c. 60 stakeholders involved with the implementation of the action plan and the overall 20-Year Strategy, to attend to the c. 180 actions contained over the period from July 2018 to June 2019.
Among the achievements made in the reporting period:
Further details are provided in the notes for editors below.
Regarding the Official Languages Bill (Amendment), the Bill was published in December 2019 and was discussed the second stage in Dáil Éireann yesterday. The government has pledged that the Bill will be stronger and will be enacted before year end.
Further information on the Action Plan (PG5) and the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language (S20) is available at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/2ea63-20-year-strategy-for-the-irish-language.
Minister Martin said:
"It is clear from the report published today, in accordance with the government’s decision, that significant progress is being made in implementing the Plan, and accordingly in implementing the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language which is the State’s policy on the Irish language and the Gaeltacht. It is a source of satisfaction and hope that such progress has been made by the 60-plus stakeholders responsible for implementing the plan – who include government departments and State agencies, along with Irish language and Gaeltacht organisations. As a result of this work, the implementation of the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language has been accelerated and to the overall ultimate benefit of the Irish language and Gaeltacht. Furthermore, the report marks out areas for further action. At the heart of this is the spirit of the meitheal, and due to the publication of this report, a significant step forward has been taken to ensure that an accountable approach is in place in future to safeguard progress as well as what has been planned by each relevant organisation in order to implement the Action Plan."
Minister of State Chambers said:
"I welcome this report. Amongst the most significant achievements made during the period of the report, the implementation of the language planning process in the Gaeltacht Language Planning Areas, Gaeltacht Service Towns and Irish Language Networks was accelerated. As a result of the partnership and shared ownership involved, I am pleased, as Minister of State, that significant progress is evident. It is recognised in the Plan that the actions set out are a baseline and that other ways are continuously being looked at to further add to what has been set out in the Plan in the period ahead as further opportunities and resources arise."
It is intended that the second report on progress will be published early in 2021 and will cover the period from July 2019 to December 2020.
ENDS
The executive summary provides an insight into the implementation of the various actions as they relate to the nine areas for action set out in the Strategy itself, namely:
Of the 185 actions in the Plan, 31 were to be implemented in 2018/2019. The report provides an insight into the current state of these actions and other actions at the end of June 2019, and a general snapshot of the progress made on each individual area for action follows below.
The report can be downloaded from here: https://www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/1418a-action-plan-2018-2022/
Funding for two Irish language early year’s posts was been secured within the Department of Children and Youth Affairs (DCYA).
Many of the key targets in this area are dependent on the enactment of the Official Languages (Amendment) Bill 2019. This Bill was published in December 2019 and is included in the new Programme for Government for enactment before end 2020.
Significant resources have been invested in the development of a broad range of technology and programmes to assist in the objectives set out in the Action Plan. Highlights include:
As regards the implementation of the amended approach set out in the Action Plan regarding monitoring, 4 meetings of the steering committee were held, chaired by the department during the reporting period.