Towards a bilingual public service

The Irish Language Services Advisory Committee was established in June 2022 and the National Plan for Irish Language Public Services 2024-2030 was published in December 2024 under the Official Languages Act between 2022 and 2024, a new report shows.

The Implementation of the Official Languages Acts 2003 to 2021, published by the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht in October 2025, that the National Plan “provides public bodies with a roadmap for achieving the Official Languages Act’s objectives”.

The objectives are that there are enough staff with Irish language competency in public bodies, and to improve and increase Irish language public services; especially in Gaeltacht areas. The following are the primary objectives of the Act.

• that at least 20 per cent of recruits to public bodies will be competent in Irish before the end of 2030;
• that public services in the Gaeltacht and for the Gaeltacht will be available through Irish;
• that every public office in the Gaeltacht will be operating through the medium of Irish;
• that an Irish Language Services Advisory Committee would be established a National Plan for Irish Language Public Services would be developed; and
• that a system of language standards would be introduced in place of the system of language schemes.

The National Plan places emphasis on language upskilling for current staff of public bodies and the recruitment of Irish speakers from outside. This supports the 20 per cent recruitment target. The report says: “There has been a significant increase in the number of people taking part in Irish language training courses in the public sector in recent years.”

All this work has ensured that the ecosystem we are developing under the Act is set on strong foundations.”

Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht Dara Calleary TD

Two action plans will be published in support of the National Plan. The first action plan was supposed to be published in 2025 and cover the period 2025-2027. However, the first Action Plan for Irish Language Public Services for the period 2026-2028 was published in January 2026.

As well as having responsibility for the publication of the National Plan, the committee gives advice to public bodies regarding how they can provide services through Irish that are not currently provided as such. It is the committee’s duty to prepare a survey on the level of competency in the Irish language of the teams of public bodies every five years.

Advertising provision and Irish langauge courses

Under the Act, an advertising provision was launched in October 2022. It places an obligation on public bodies to conduct 20 per cent of their annual advertising in Irish and that at least 5 per cent of their advertising budgets be spent on advertising in Irish in the Irish language media.

The report says: “It is a significantly positive provision that has increased the visibility of the language across all media platforms used by public bodies.”

The provision of Irish language courses are connected to the 20 per cent recruitment objective. Greásán Gaeilge was established in July 2024 to provide opportunities to people in the public sector to use their Irish.

The Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform have a service agreement in place for the provision of Irish language training and competency training for the civil service. It is provided through the learning and development unit of the civil service.

Language standards system

Under the Act, it is an objective to introduce a language standards system in place of the language schemes system. This is to deliver a higher standard of service in sectors that have higher levels of interaction with the public; particularly in Language Planning Areas, Gaeltacht Service Towns, and Irish Languages Networks.

The following objective is set out in the report: “The Minister will set dates by which public offices in Gaeltacht Language Planning Areas (GLPA) will operate through Irish, and by which public services in and for GLPAs will be provided through Irish.”

The report says the language standards system is “essential for delivering high-quality Irish-language services to the public”, and that “work on developing these standards is being finalised”.

An aim was set for the first public consultation on the language standards to be completed early in 2025, and the report says that the consultation was to be done in spring 2025 but it has not yet been completed.

Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht Dara Calleary TD says: “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.”

During a Dáil Éireann debate in May 2026, Sinn Féin’s Irish language spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD said: “Twenty-three years have passed since the Official Languages Act 2003 was enacted. We are now five years on from the enactment of the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021.

“We are now waiting on the standards. That is what the Minister has said. The action plan is there but there are no objectives. Exactly when will the Gaeltacht community be able to access services through Irish.”