Conradh na Gaeilge and Gaeltacht groups including Bánú and Tinteán criticised the section of the plan which set out the proportion of houses that would be set aside for Irish speakers in new developments.

In their view, this section weakened the existing protection for the speaking of Irish as it had been set out in development plans for counties in Gaeltacht areas.

Calleary was under pressure to deliver the draft planning guidelines for the Gaeltacht areas as the plan had been promised by his predecessors in the Department of the Gaeltacht since 2021.

The minister came in for criticism when it was indicated last November that the new version of the guidelines would not be published until 2027.

The long awaited draft plan was published at the end of June, ahead of the deadline set out in the government’s latest housing plan, Building Homes, Building Communities.

Speaking to The Journal about the new guidelines, Calleary said there is a need for balance between Irish speakers and residents of the Gaeltacht who do not have the ability to achieve a satisfactory standard in a language test, but who wanted planning permission to build houses.

He acknowledged that a high percentage had been set in various areas across the Gaeltacht regions, but that no percentage had been set in other areas.

“We are now putting in place a basic standard for the whole country and that standard set out in the statement is based on the people who are using Irish on a daily basis in those areas, plus ten percent.

“We did not take those figures out of thin air – they are based on the census carried out a few years ago.”

First time national standard has been set 

The minister said he was open to discussing those standards.

He said for the “first time” a national standard will be in place for the number of new houses that will be open to Irish speakers.

“For the first time – and perhaps this has been lost in the criticism – this is the first time there is a national standard for Irish, for protecting the Gaeltacht.”

When the minister was reminded that there were Gaeltacht areas where 66% or 85% was available for Irish speakers, he responded:

“And there are places where there is none — that point is important, and it is being lost in the criticism that there are places where there is no protection at all.

“They want us to leap from no protection to high-level protection of around 80%,” he said, adding:

We are trying to find a balance and that is the challenge we knew we faced.

“There are people living in the Gaeltacht for years, for generations, who do not have a high standard of Irish.

“We must find a balance between those people who do not have a high standard of Irish, who must still be able to build new houses in their native area.

“Even though they do not have a high standard of Irish, they are also from that place.”

Criticism

The minister said he understood “the criticism about the gap between the standards in some areas and the new standard”.

He also said he was open to “working with Minister Browne (Minister for Housing) on amending those standards”.

Gaeltacht Minister Dara Calleary was pictured at a Gaeltacht building site in Baile an Fheirtéireagh in March. Concubhar Ó Liatháin Concubhar Ó Liatháin

In response to a question about why an additional 10% was added to the percentage of daily Irish speakers recorded in the census, he said he was returning to the question of balance.

“The most important figure is the people who are using Irish – we use 10% so that there would be additional protection but also so that it would be practical.”

Talks between two departments

During an RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta interview in mid-May about the new National Planning Statement for the Gaeltacht, the minister had indicated there wasn’t full agreement between his department and the housing department on every question. 

It is understood officials from the Gaeltacht and Housing Departments had differing views on a number of issues with both pushing their own interests, such as the need to increase housing numbers against the need to protect Gaeltacht areas.

In addition, given that the government’s emphasis is on building the greatest possible number of houses as quickly as possible, it cannot be ruled out that this urgency is a factor in what has been proposed in the national planning statement.

Public consultation

When a language clause is to be added to a county development plan that includes a Gaeltacht area, the local authority must put the proposed amendments before the public at least once in a consultation process. The minister was asked whether a similar consultation process would apply to the draft National Planning Statement for the Gaeltacht.

It is not certain that there will be a public consultation process on the draft document published last week, but the minister said he and Browne will be open to ‘feedback’ on the policies contained in it.

“What is currently underway is an environmental screening process,” he said.

He indicated that groups raising specific questions could be consulted as part of that process, with the minister stating that he hopes to hear details about next steps from the Department of Housing by the end of the month.

“When we have those details, we will publish them.”

The draft plan has got a lot of people talking in Gaeltacht areas, with Sinn Féin due to hold a public meeting on the document next week in Cois Farraige in Connemara.

Representatives say that feedback from the community attending the meeting will be fed back to the government. According to the party’s Galway West TD, Máiréad Farrell, the hope is to bring feedback from that meeting to the Dáil before it rises on Wednesday.