Official Languages Act (and related legislation)

The Official Languages Act 2003 was signed into law on 14 July 2003. The primary objective of the Act is to ensure the improved provision of public services through the Irish language.

More information about the Act is available here.

A copy of the Act can be accessed here.

The Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021 was signed into law on 22 December 2022. This new legislation is a strengthening of the Official Languages Act 2003 and is designed to make a significant contribution to the quality of services in Irish provided to the public by State bodies.

More information about the Act is available here.

A copy of the Act can be accessed here..

The number of public bodies that were involved under the Official Languages Act has been significantly reduced as a result of the rationalisation and streamlining of State public bodies in recent years. In order to reflect this change, the Official Languages Act 2003 (Public Bodies) Regulations 2019 (S.I. No. 230 of 2020) were made to amend the First Schedule of the Act i.e. the list of public bodies who come under the scope of the Act.

These Regulations came into effect on 25 June 2020.

A copy of the Regulations can be accessed here.

These regulations, which were made under sections 4(2) and 9(1) of the Official Languages Act 2003, provide for the use of the Irish language only, or the Irish and English languages together on recorded oral announcements, stationery, and signage of public bodies.

A copy of the Regulations can be accessed here.

These Regulations brought additional public bodies within the scope of the Official Languages Act 2003 and deleted from the first Schedule to the Act the names of public bodies that had ceased to exist or to operate since it was passed.

A copy of the Regulations can be accessed here.

A list of the Placenames Orders made to date under the Act, along with links to copies of them, can be found on the website of An Coimisinéir Teanga here.

This order gave effect to Section 1, Section 2 (with the exception of (b) and (c)), Section 20 and established the Irish Language Services Advisory Committee under the auspices of Section 8 which amended Section 18 of the principal Act of 2003.

The specific functions of the Advisory Committee are set out in Section 18C and Section 18F of the Act, including:

• The preparation of a National Plan for the provision of public services through the medium of Irish within two years of the establishment of the Committee, i.e. by 19 June 2024. The preparation of the National Plan is in line with achieving the overall objective of the Act, which is that 20% of recruits to the public service will be Irish speakers no later than 31 December 2030.

• The provision of an Annual Progress Report to the Minister and An Coimisinéir Teanga by 30 June of each year, save for the first one which is to be provided by 30 June 2024 and which will include the work carried out by the Committee from the day it was established up to 31 December 2023. Copies of these will be published on the Department's website once they have been submitted to the Houses of the Oireachtas.

In carrying out its specific functions, the Committee will also have regard to these other relevant sections of the Act:

• Section 18D relating to the duty of the Minister in relation to the National Plan;

• Section 18E relating to deadlines to be set by the Minister, having regard to the National Plan, under which public offices located in the Gaeltacht will operate through the medium of Irish and under which all public services in the Gaeltacht and for the Gaeltacht will be provided through the Irish language.

• Section 19A (2), specifically mentioned under Section 18C (1)(a)(i) (above), which relates to language standards.

Further information on the Advisory Committee is available Item was unpublished or removed

This order gave effect to Section 6 which amended Section 10 of the principal Act of 2003 which placed new statutory obligations on public bodies in relation to general communications which engage with the public in the official languages of the State.

This Order came into effect on 10 October 2022.

This Order gave effect to the following sections:

a) section 2 (insofar as it is not already in operation);

b) section 7;

c) section 9;

d) section 10;

e) section 11;

f) section 15;

g) section 18;

h) section 19.

Some of these Sections constitute technical amendments to the Act but, in addition to those, there are two significant provisions, Section 9 and Section 10, which are worth highlighting.

Section 9 of the Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021 lays down a process in relation to the publication of the language standards being introduced under the Act. The section provides for the Minister to consult with public bodies regarding the draft standards following their publication. There will be a 3-month consultation period from the date of publication. The draft standards will also be published on the department's website to give the general public an opportunity to comment on them. The drafting of the standards is currently underway.

Under the Official Languages Act 2003, the functions of An Coimisinéir Teanga include monitoring compliance with the Act by public bodies. Section 10 of the 2021 Act amends Section 21 of the Principal Act by giving An Coimisinéir an additional monitoring function. As a result of this, An Coimisinéir will now monitor the compliance of public bodies with any other legislation relating to the status or use of Irish and/or English, where appropriate, for example: the Road Traffic Act, 1961, the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Transport Act 1950, the Broadcasting Act 2009, the Planning and Development Act 2000 and the Education Act, 1998 to name but a few.

This order gave effect to Section 3 which amended Section 4 of the principal Act of 2003. These changes relate to performance and reporting and place the following obligations on the head of a public body:

• 4A relating to the appointment, from senior management, of another member of staff to oversee the performance and reporting of obligations under the Acts.

• 4B ensuring that a summary of performance and reporting is included in the annual report of the body concerned.

This Order came into effect on 5 May 2023.