Seachtain sul ar labhair an Taoiseach i bParlaimint na hEorpa, dúirt an Rialtas go raibh sé tar éis iarratas a cur isteach faoi stádas oifigiúil oibre don Ghaeilge. Cén dul chun cinn atá déanta ó shin? A week before the Taoiseach addressed the European Parliament the Government announced it had applied for official working status for the Irish language in the European Union. What progress has been made on that application and where does it stand?

In light of last week's announcement that the European Commission would provide funding of €60 million for the peace programme and €15 million for the International Fund for Ireland in each of the two years 2005 and 2006, will the Taoiseach advise the House of his firm support for the realisation of a Peace III programme after 2006, bearing in mind the important work carried out at community level? What steps have been taken or are intended to secure that commitment? What is the Taoiseach's view of the fact that the British Government did not seek a similar amount of EU peace funding in this round as in the previous round? Would he agree that the only consequence of that can be a significant reduction in the level of funding for projects which aim to address the multi-faceted legacy of the past 30 years of conflict?

The Government decided on 14 July to initiate the process of discussions with the other EU member states and the EU institutions with a view to achieving the provision of Irish as a working language under EU Regulation 1-1958. The regulation is the legal instrument that governs the working language regime among governments, EU institutions and officials. The discussions in Brussels with the representatives of other member states and the EU institutions focus on securing agreement on the practical modalities to meet the objective. Our ambassador and staff have been talking to representatives of most of the other member states. The decision must be unanimous so everybody must come on board. The discussions also explore the practical options open to us which would allow for the enhancement of the status of the Irish language in the EU. The discussions so far are going well but will take some time because of the procedures.

At the last meeting of the European Council that I chaired, we passed a resolution that the peace funding would continue.