The Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021

The Official Languages Act 2003, and its amendment in 2021, is legislation designed to increase the availability and visibility of the Irish language in public services. It requires government departments, local authorities, and public bodies to provide services in Irish and English.

The 2021 Amendment – What Changed?

At least 20% of staff recruited to public bodies to be competent in Irish by 31 December 2030 at the latest
20% of advertising by public bodies to be in Irish and 5% of the advertising budget of these bodies to be spent in the Irish language media
All services from public bodies to be provided to the Gaeltacht in Irish (but no target year was set down for this)
Official recognition and systems to be created to enable the public to use their names and addresses in Irish, with síntí fada if they wish, with public bodies (and not to use a title if they don’t want to use one)
Private sector bodies providing services to the public, on behalf of public bodies, to comply with certain provisions of the Act
Balance and certainty of Irish language inclusion in the marketing carried out by public bodies
Existing logos in English only of public bodies to be changed to bilingual logos, or to Irish only, when the logos are to be renewed or changed
Official names of new public bodies to be in Irish only. This will ensure that logos of all new public bodies will be in Irish only or bilingual in the future
Certain official forms by public bodies to be bilingual or in Irish only
The Chair of the Advisory Committee, which will be drawing up the National Plan to address recruitment and service provision in Irish, to be competent in Irish
Representation on the Advisory Committee to include a representative from Gaeltacht language planning areas and another as a representative from outside the Gaeltacht
Language standards to replace language schemes
The Minister for the Gaeltacht to be responsible for co-ordinating the implementation of the National Plan by public bodies
An Coimisinéir Teanga to have additional monitoring power over current legislation
Senior management structure to be responsible for the implementation of the Act in Public Bodies
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages to be used in the provision of state services in Irish

Expanding Irish-Language Services

The Act strengthens the rights of Irish speakers by requiring public bodies to provide more services in Irish. It replaces the previous system of individual language schemes with binding language standards, ensuring greater consistency and accountability across government departments and agencies.

Strengthening Oversight & Visibility

The Act enhances the role of An Coimisinéir Teanga (The Language Commissioner) to ensure compliance with language obligations. It also increases the visibility of Irish in public life, requiring more state documents, websites, and official communications to be available in Irish.

Increasing Irish in Public Sector Employment

A key provision of the Act sets a target for 20% of new public service recruits to be proficient in Irish by 2030. This aims to increase the availability of Irish-speaking staff in public offices, making it easier for people to access services through Irish.

Timeline of the Official Languages Act

Conradh na Gaeilge spent over ten years campaigning for stronger language rights, standing against weak legislative proposals between 2011 and 2016 to ensure the independence of the Office of the Language Commissioner, and from 2017 to 2021 to lay the foundation for improved Irish-language services.

03/11/2011

The Minister of State for the Gaeltacht announced the commencement of a review of the Official Languages Act 2003
17/11/2011

The Government announced its intention to close the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga as an independent statutory office, and to bring all its functions under the Office of the Ombudsman as part of its public sector reform plan
20/11/2011

Conradh na Gaeilge and Guth na Gaeltachta began campaigning to save the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga and to ensure that the review resulted in a satisfactory Language Act. A target was set to elicit a 1,000 surveys and 100 submissions from the public for the review
01/12/2011

Local meetings organised in the community and a major meeting in Galway were organised by the Conradh & Guth na Gaeltachta with Irish language, Gaeltacht and other organisations to agree a plan
13/12/2011

Protest organised outside the Dáil regarding the Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga and language rights
21/01/2012

Seminar organised between Trinity College and the Conradh on strengthening the legislation
31/01/2012

The review received 1,466 survey responses plus 262 submissions from the public, including hundreds of suggestions for improvement
11/01/2014

Major Public Meeting - Rights & Equality for the Irish Language - organised by the Conradh in Liberty Hall, Dublin, following An Coimisinéir Teanga's announcement that he was to resign
01-02/2014

Meetings were organised throughout the country to prepare for An Lá Mór and to discuss Irish language and Gaeltacht rights
15/02/2014

10,000+ people from all over the country marched on the streets of Dublin during AN LÁ MÓR to promote the Commissioner's case and to look for Irish language and Gaeltacht rights
24/02/2014

An Coimisinéir Teanga resigned, due to the Government in the south of Ireland not listening to what he had to say
01/04/2014

The Government finally publishes the results of the review which began on 03/11/11. Of the 60 suggestions, although they received hundreds of suggestions from the public, only 2-4 were of any merit
01/05/2014

Heads of the Official Languages (Amendment) Bill, 2014 were published. They were very weak and there was a danger of a weaker Act if they were passed
2014 - 2015

Ongoing lobbying of various politicians and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Environment, Culture & the Gaeltacht who supported our position against the regressive proposals in the Heads of Bill and were in favour of the Conradh's proposed amendments to the Bill
27/01/2015

Report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the general scheme of the official languages (amendment) bill 2014 published
2016 - 2017

In the 2016 General Election we called for a Standing Joint Oireachtas Committee for Irish Language and Gaeltacht matters, such as the rights of the Irish language and the Gaeltacht community. The Joint Oireachtas Committee was set up after the general election and this Joint Oireachtas Committee has had a major influence on the subsequent Official Languages Bill process
01/01/2017

Draft Conradh na Gaeilge Bill agreed with the opposition, including provisions such as 20% public sector recruitment, advertising in Irish, services in the Gaeltacht, etc..
30/05/2017

Government decided not to go ahead with the Heads of the Bill of the Official Languages (Amendment) Bill, 2014 and they adopted new Heads of Bill as a result of the pressure put on them
01/05/2017

Following the rejection of the 2014 Heads of Bill and the adoption of new Heads of Bill, which included the 20% recruitment target for proficiency in Irish, it was decided to work with the Government, the Department of the Gaeltacht and the opposition to promote the provisions in the draft Conradh Bill and other provisions in this new process
01/05/2018

Report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands on the general scheme of the Official Languages Bill 2017 was published. Support for the recommendations of the Conradh as well as further recommendations were included
14/12/2019

The Official Languages Bill 2019 was published and the community lobbied to strengthen the Bill
08/02/2020

The 2020 General Election was used to ensure political party support for the strengthening of the Official Languages Bill 2019, in particular to add a target year of 2030 to the provision that 20% of candidates recruited to the civil service be proficient in Irish. This was agreed to by Fianna Fáil, the Green Party, Sinn Féin and People Before Profit
2020 - 2021

Lobbying and public pressure on politicians to strengthen the Bill as the Bill progressed through the various stages in the Houses of the Oireachtas at SEAS, individual meetings with politicians, seminars, meetings with the Department and Ministers, meetings with the Language Commissioner, presentations to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Irish Speaking Community, and many many other methods
22/12/2021

Official Languages Act 2019 (Amendment) signed by the President of Ireland