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Amendment of Principal Act - insertion of sections 19A to 19D
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9. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following sections after section 19:
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“Language standards
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19A. (1) For the purpose of prescribing language standards to apply to a public body or class of public bodies in order to promote the use of the Irish language for official purposes in the State, the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister of the Government in whom functions in relation to the body or each body in the class of public bodies is vested, prescribe the public body or class of public bodies for the purposes of this section.
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(2) The Minister may prescribe language standards to apply to a public body or class of public bodies prescribed under subsection (1) and different standards may apply to different public bodies or different classes of public bodies.
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(3) Language standards prescribed under subsection (2) may include standards specifying—
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(a) services to be provided, through the medium of the Irish language, by the public body or class of public bodies concerned,
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(b) services to be provided, through the medium of both the Irish and English languages, by the public body or class of public bodies concerned,
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(c) the level of competence in the Irish language required by staff of the public body or class of public bodies concerned so as to enable—
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(i) the public body or class of public bodies to comply with paragraphs (a) and (b), and
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(ii) staff of each public body concerned to communicate, within that body, with other staff of the body—
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(I) through the medium of the Irish language, or
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(II) through the medium of both the Irish and English languages,
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and
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(d) where a public body or class of public bodies is delivering or implementing, or intends to deliver or implement, a service, programme or policy in a Gaeltacht Language Planning Area, Gaeltacht Service Town or Irish Language Network, the extent to which the linguistic impact on the Gaeltacht Language Planning Area, Gaeltacht Service Town or Irish Language Network concerned shall be taken into account as respects the delivery or implementation of that service, programme or policy.
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(4) The Minister shall, when prescribing language standards under subsection (2), have regard to the following—
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(a) the services provided by the body through the medium of the Irish language,
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(b) any scheme in force in respect of the body under section 14,
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(c) any language standard prescribed under this section that applies to the body,
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(d) the extent to which the public body or class of public bodies concerned interacts with the general public or a class of the general public,
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(e) the extent to which a service, programme or policy delivered or implemented, or to be delivered or implemented, by a public body or class of public bodies may affect the general public or a class of the general public in a Gaeltacht Language Planning Area, a Gaeltacht Service Town or an Irish Language Network, with particular reference to Gaeltacht Language Planning Areas,
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(f) any views received under subsection (6)(c) or (d), and
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(g) services identified in the National Plan.
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(5) The Minister shall, when prescribing language standards under subsection (2), ensure that a standard to be prescribed shall not have the effect that the public body concerned may be required to provide fewer services through the medium of the Irish language than the body provided (either of the body’s own accord, pursuant to a scheme in force in respect of the body under section 14 or pursuant to a language standard prescribed under this section) prior to the standard being prescribed.
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(6) Before prescribing language standards under subsection (2), the Minister shall—
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(a) consult—
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(i) such other Minister of the Government as the Minister considers appropriate having regard to the functions of that other Minister, and
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(ii) such public body as the Minister considers appropriate,
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(b) seek the advice of the Advisory Committee,
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(c) publish, on the website of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, a draft of the standards giving the general public 3 months from the date of publication to provide to the Minister views, in writing, on the draft standards, and
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(d) contact each public body to which a standard shall apply to advise that the body may, within 3 months of the date of publication of the draft standards under paragraph (c), provide to the Minister its views on the draft standards.
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(7) The Minister may, where he or she considers it appropriate to do so, extend the period referred to in subsection (6)(c) or (d).
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(8) The Minister shall forward a copy of language standards prescribed under subsection (2) to the Commissioner.
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(9) (a) The Minister shall, from time to time but at least once every 5 years, carry out a review of language standards prescribed under subsection (2).
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(b) When carrying out the review referred to in paragraph (a), the Minister shall seek the advice of the Advisory Committee.
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(10) Notwithstanding this section, the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, in relation to those of its services delivered exclusively through the medium of the English language, direct a public body to draw up a plan for the delivery of those services in addition through the medium of the Irish language together with an estimate of the period of time required to implement the plan.
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Duty to comply with language standards
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19B. (1) Where the Minister has prescribed, under section 19A(2), a language standard to apply to a public body, the body shall, unless and until a derogation has been granted in respect of the standard or part of the standard, comply with the standard, or part of the standard, as the case may be.
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(2) Nothing in a language standard prescribed under section 19A(2) to apply to a public body shall be construed as prohibiting a public body from implementing further measures to promote the status of the Irish language within its organisation.
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Derogation from language standards
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19C. (1) A public body may, within 3 months of a language standard being prescribed to apply to the body under section 19A(2), apply, in writing, to the Minister to seek a derogation from the standard or part of the standard.
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(2) An application under subsection (1) shall include—
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(a) a statement setting out the reasons why the body considers that it will not be in a position to comply with the language standard, or part of the standard, as the case may be, due to—
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(i) lack of availability, particularly in remote geographic locations, of staff of the body who have the required level of competence in the Irish language,
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(ii) failure of the body, despite reasonable and satisfactory efforts, to recruit staff who have the required level of competence in the Irish language, or
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(iii) incompatibility of the body’s existing IT or other systems with compliance, by the body, with the proposed standard due to existing configuration of those systems,
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(b) a plan to outline the action to be taken by the body to—
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(i) mitigate, in so far as possible, any adverse effects on the general public or a class of the general public, as may be appropriate, as a result of the derogation being granted, and
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(ii) enable it to comply, at a specified future date, with the proposed standard,
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and
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(c) any other information that the body considers relevant to the application.
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(3) The Minister shall, when considering whether to grant a derogation under this section, have regard to—
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(a) the statement, plan and any other information submitted to the Minister under subsection (2), and
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(b) any other matter the Minister considers relevant.
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(4) The Minister may, when considering whether to grant a derogation under this section, consult the public body concerned or such other person as the Minister considers appropriate.
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(5) Subject to subsection (6), the Minister shall, within 3 months of receipt of the application referred to in subsection (1), or such further period not exceeding 6 months, grant or refuse to grant a derogation from the language standard, or part of the standard, concerned.
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(6) The Minister shall not grant a derogation under this section where to do so would have the effect that the public body concerned may be required to provide fewer services through the medium of the Irish language than the body provided (of the body’s own accord, pursuant to a scheme in force under section 14 or pursuant to a language standard prescribed under section 19A) prior to the standard, in respect of which the application under subsection (1) was made, being prescribed.
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(7) (a) The Minister may attach such conditions to a derogation granted under this section as are, in the Minister’s opinion, appropriate.
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(b) Subject to subsection (8), the Minister may specify a period, not exceeding 3 years, in relation to which a derogation shall apply, after which period the language standard or part of the standard in respect of which the derogation was granted shall apply to the public body concerned.
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(8) The Minister may, if he or she deems it appropriate to do so, extend, for a further period not exceeding 2 years, the period for which a derogation granted under this section shall apply.
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(9) A public body to which a derogation has been granted shall report to the Minister within 12 months of the granting of the derogation or such shorter period as the Minister may specify in a condition attached to the derogation, and no later than the expiration of each 12 month period thereafter until the derogation expires, to outline the action taken by the body during that period so that the body may comply with the proposed language standard by a specified future date.
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Guidelines in respect of language standards
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19D. (1) The Minister may issue guidelines for the purpose of providing practical guidance to public bodies as respects the compliance, by those bodies, with language standards prescribed under section 19A(2).
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(2) The Minister shall, as soon as practicable, publish on the website of the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht any guidelines issued under subsection (1).”.
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