Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Dillon. Cé go bhfuil stádas iomlán mar theanga oifigiúil is oibre ag an nGaeilge san Aontas Eorpach ó thús na bliana 2022 de bhun rialacháin, ta cinneadh déanta ag Parlaimint na hEorpa amháin gan foireann iomlán aistritheoirí Gaeilge a fhostú le plé leis an bhfocal scríofa agus gan post buan ar bith a chruthú d’ateangairí Gaeilge sa Pharlaimint chun plé leis an nGaeilge labhartha. Fágann sé sin nach bhfuil an deis ag Feisirí an Ghaeilge a úsáid in obair choistí na Parlaiminte, áit a ndéantar formhór obair na Parlaiminte. Is gá go n-éileoidh an Rialtas go gcruthóidh Parlaimint na hEorpa na poist bhuana a bhfuil gá leo. Is éard atá i gceist agam ná sé phost d’aistritheoirí, dhá phost do phrofléitheoirí Gaeilge agus trí phost d’ateangairí Gaeilge, agus iad a líonadh le daoine ar chonarthaí buana nó sealadacha ach na poist bhuana sin a bheith ann.

Dála an scéil, réitigh Rialtas Mhálta an maolú ar úsáid na Máltaise sa Pharlaimint níos luaithe i mbliana. Is gá do Rialtas na hÉireann gníomhú láithreach, go háirithe i gcomhthéacs Uachtaránacht na hÉireann ar an Aontas Eorpach agus ar Chomhairle na nAirí atá ag teacht chun cinn.

As the Minister of State knows, Irish has been a full official working language of the European Union since the beginning of 2022, pursuant to a regulation. The European Parliament alone has decided not to employ a full team of Irish language translators to deal with the written word or create any permanent position for Irish language interpreters in Parliament to deal with spoken Irish. This means that MEPs do not have the opportunity to use Irish in the work of the committees of the Parliament, where most of the Parliament’s work is done. In the context of our upcoming Presidency of the European Union and the Council, the Government must require the European Parliament to create the necessary permanent posts. There must be six Irish-language translator posts, two Irish-language proofreader posts and three Irish language interpreter posts, to be filled either on a permanent basis or by temporary contract staff as long as those permanent jobs are in place.

The Maltese Government resolved the derogation on the use of Maltese in Parliament earlier this year. Now is the time for the Irish Government to take an immediate step likewise. I will ask the Minister of State the following questions: cad iad na bearta sonracha atá curtha i bhfeidhm chun a chinntiú gur féidir le seirbhís ateangaireachta Pharlaimint na hEorpa ateangaireacht Ghaeilge a chur ar fáil le linn Uachtaránacht na hÉireann ar an gComhairle ón 1 Iúil 2026? Cé mhéad ateangaire foirne don Ghaeilge atá earcaithe ag Parlaimint na hEorpa faoi láthair? Cé mhéad post buan d'ateangairí a bheidh ag teastáil chun ligean d'Fheisirí a gceart chun Gaeilge a labhairt a fheidhmiú i gcruinnithe coiste agus toscaireachta faoi riail 174 de na rialacha nós imeachta? Cé mhéad post buan breise d'aistritheoirí agus do phrofléithteoirí sa rannóg Gaeilge de chuid Ard-Stiúrthóireacht an Aistriúcháin a bheadh ag teastáil chun ligean d'Fheisirí a gceart chun cáipéisí a léamh as Gaeilge a fheidhmiú i gcruinnithe coiste agus toscaireachta faoi na rialacha nós imeachta, agus deireadh a chur leis an maolú ar úsáid na Gaeilge sa Pharlaimint? An bhfuil an Rialtas buartha nach bhfuil ár gcuóta post san Aontas Eorpach á líonadh againn mar gheall ar an maolú seo, in ainneoin go bhfuil Éire ag íoc isteach sna cistí aistriúcháin agus ateangaireachta cosúil le gach tír eile?

What specific measures are being put in place to ensure the Parliament’s interpretation service can provide Irish during our Council Presidency from 1 July? How many Irish-language staff and interpreters are currently recruited by the Parliament? How many permanent interpreter positions would be required to allow Members to exercise their right to speak Irish in committee and delegation meetings under rule 174 of the rules of procedure? How many extra permanent translator and proofreader positions in the Irish-language department of the Directorate-General for Translation would be required to allow Members to exercise their right to read documents in Irish in committee and delegation meetings under the rules of procedure and end the derogation on the use of Irish in Parliament? Finally, is the Government concerned that we are not filling our quota of posts at EU level because of this derogation, despite the fact that Ireland is paying into translation and interpretation funds like every other country?

I thank the Senator for raising this important question. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Thomas Byrne.

I will begin by outlining the background to this issue. Irish has been a treaty language since 1973, the year of Ireland's accession, meaning that only the EU treaties were translated into Irish. In 2005, after a long period of campaigning, the Irish Government applied for Irish to become an official and working language in the EU. It was granted this status two years later, in January 2007. However, due to a shortage of translation staff and technological resources, it was announced that there would be a limit to the amount of material provided in Irish compared to other European languages. This limit has been extended on a number of occasions.

In 2015, following a request from the Irish Government, the EU agreed to gradually bring the derogation arrangement to an end by 1 January 2022. At midnight on 31 December 2021, the Irish language was granted full official and working status in the European Union, meaning it was now on a par with all other official EU languages. However, on 12 March 2024, the European Parliament passed a derogation from this requirement, Rule 168, in the case of adequate precautions having been taken, interpreters or translators required for an official language are not available in sufficient numbers. The European Parliament determined that it has insufficient capacity to allow full interpretation service in Irish and Maltese and therefore extended Rule 168 to the end of the tenth parliamentary term in 2029 for these two languages.

The only documents which are guaranteed translation are legal Acts of general application. Despite this, the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, which led on the promotion of the Irish language across all EU institutions, has confirmed that the European Parliament makes a very high percentage of its documentation available in Irish - 80% in both 2022 and 2023 and over 90% in 2024. While a relatively large number of documents is being translated into Irish, the problem primarily arises during committee sessions, where the Parliament continues to assert that there is an insufficient number of personnel to allow for live interpretation into and from the Irish language. I understand this is generally not an issue in plenary sessions.

Increasing the number of Irish interpreters across the EU institutions is a priority for the Government and forms part of wider efforts to increase the number of Irish officials in the EU as part of the strategy, A Career for EU. An extensive series of measures designed to increase the number of Irish language interpreters available to the EU institutions has been ongoing since 2018, including funding for additional third level courses and an internship programme for translators, proofreaders and conference translators within the European Union institutions. This has been achieved with the active support, including financial, of the EU. This issue is raised on a regular basis in the Parliament at both official and political level. We will continue to argue for the ending of the derogation and against any proposal to extend it beyond 2029.

To conclude on a positive note, we continue to work alongside our MEPs to highlight this issue. The 2026 Presidency will be the first Irish Presidency since Irish became a fully operational working language of the European Union in January 2022. The Irish Presidency will demonstrate the Union's commitment to linguistic diversity by integrating Irish into Council business, official communications and cultural events.

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. If we cannot solve this during the Irish Presidency of the European Union, when can it be solved? I was in Luxembourg and Brussels last week. In Brussels, I was taking part in an interparliamentary conference with MEPs and representatives from different parliaments. On the note on translation, we were told there would be translation and interpretation available in all of the European languages except Gaelic - it was pronounced like the Americans sometimes pronounce Gaelic for Irish. I was very disappointed to see that.

On the other hand, in the European institutions in Luxembourg we met with the Irish judges of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Our former Seanadóir, Eugene Regan, was there, as were Judge Colm Mac Eochaidh and Judge Suzanne Kingston. I was delighted to see a recent decision of the court was given to me fully translated into Irish. There is a lot of good happening with the EU but there are failings. There is also a failing to get enough Irish people working in the institutions. This is one where the Government needs to get the finger out. Ní féidir é seo a chur ar an méar fhada a thuilleadh. Is gá gníomhú anois chun dul i ngleic leis an bhfadhb seo.

I again thank Senator Mullen for raising this important issue and for his advocacy for the Irish language. I endeavour to use the Irish language whenever I can. When I visit the European Parliament or we have ministerial engagements in Brussels, I use it as much as I can, at the start and at the end. I acknowledge the commitment of all our MEPs on this issue. Cynthia Ní Mhurchú is one who continues to advocate for the Irish language and puts it front and centre, along with many others. I assure the Senator that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is working to progress this matter at European level. In response to his point, we need to see progress on this. We need to see sufficient staff who have fluent Irish to provide sufficient interpretation for set-piece events, but also to ensure that it can become a working language for many who want to continue in that regard. We need to look at recruitment and ensure that campaigns are focused on those areas within the Gaeltacht regions for people who would have an opportunity to provide that skill set to others. The broader point is that we hope the derogation as it stands is lifted. We will continue to engage with the Parliament on this matter.