Irish Language Legislation

From Right to Left the GPO. Irish Flag, Irish Passport, Judge, Doctor, Graduate, Train, Garda on a Bike, a child and a train with hills and clouds in the background

Official Languages Act 2003

The purpose of the Official Languages Act is to increase in an organised manner over a period of time, thequantity and quality of services provided by public bodies to the public through Irish. The Office of An Coimisinéir Teanga has published a (opens in a new window)guidebook to assist the public regarding their language rights and to provide advice to public bodies regarding their (opens in a new window)duties under the Official Languages Act.

(opens in a new window)Official Languages (Amendment) Act 2021

The Official Languages (Amendment) Act was signed into law by the President of Ireland, 22 December 2021. An Irish Language Services Advisory Committee was established on 20 June 2022. The committee will advise on the implementation of the 2021 Act; the provisions of the act will come into force on an incremental basis.

Click on the boxes below to see examples of best practice in the implementation of direct duties.

Direct Duties

An image of pens and sticky notes inside a folder

Stationary

A sign post with multiple signs showing English/Irish pointing in different directions

Signage

Pre-recorded Oral Announcements

*University College Dublin - Irish Language Scheme

University College Dublin has prepared its 2nd language scheme under article 11 of the Official Languages Act 2003. The purpose of the act is to ensure better availability and a higher standard of public services through Irish. We appreciate the submissions which were forwarded for consideration. UCD's 2nd language scheme, 2021-2024, will be visible below further to its approval by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Members of the UCD Irish Language Scheme Committee 2021 can be viewed here: Coiste Scéim Teanga UCD 2021

* Please note that current language schemes remain in effect until details of the new standardization system under the Official Languages (Amendment) Act are published.

UCD’s 1st language scheme, 2018-2021, can be viewed (opens in a new window)here
Details on the Official Languages Act can be viewed at the (opens in a new window)Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
The Office of (opens in a new window)An Coimisinéir Teanga monitors compliance by public bodies with the provisions of the Official Languages Act

Trimester 1, 2021 Review

Units listed in the 2021-2024 scheme are requested to complete the following survey: (opens in a new window)https://forms.gle/YzKAg8xqgrfAY7qv8

Please contact (opens in a new window)failte@ucd.ie for further queries.

(opens in a new window)Click (opens in a new window)here for the Cumann na nOifigeach Forbartha Gaeilge website, a network of Irish Language Development Officers in the public and civil service on the Island of Ireland.