Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs

Official Languages Act 2003

The Official Languages Act 2003 was signed into law on 14 July 2003. The Act is the first piece of legislation to provide a statutory framework for the delivery of services through the Irish Language.

Objective of Act

The primary objective of the Act is to ensure better availability and a higher standard of public services through Irish.

This will be principally achieved by placing a statutory obligation on Departments of State and public bodies to make specific provision for delivery of such services in a coherent and agreed fashion through a statutory planning framework, known as a "scheme", to be agreed on a three-year renewable basis between the head of the body concerned and the Minister. The Act provides for the preparation of guidelines by the Minister for public bodies in relation to the preparation of draft schemes. Schemes remain in force for 3 years and thereafter fall to be renewed. The intention is that this renewal process will be used to secure a significant improvement in the level of public services available through Irish over time, as demand requires.

The Act also specifies some basic general provisions of universal applicability, e.g. correspondence to be replied to in the language in which it was written, providing information to the public in the Irish language, or in the Irish and English languages, bilingual publications of certain key documents, use of Irish in the courts, etc.

Among the principal provisions of the Act are provisions that relate to:

Authority of Minister -with the consent of the Minister for Finance- to make regulations for the purpose of giving full effect to the provisions of this Bill. [Section 4]
The right of any person to use the Irish language before either House of the Oireachtas including any committee thereof.
Publication of Acts simultaneously in both official languages. [Section 7]
The right of a person to be heard in and to the use Irish language in court proceedings. [Section 8]
The duty of public bodies to ensure that the Irish language only, or the Irish and English languages together, are used, on oral advertisements, - whether they be live or recorded, on stationery, on signage and on advertisements under regulation to be made by the Minister. [Section 9(1)]
The duty of public bodies to reply to correspondence - in writing or by electronic mail - in the language in which that correspondence was written. [Section 9(2)]
The duty of public bodies to ensure that any communication providing information to the public - in writing or by electronic mail - is in the Irish language only or in the Irish and English languages. (Section 9(3))
The duty of public bodies, that are also State bodies, to publish certain documents that would be of interest to the public, in Irish and in English simultaneously, for example Annual Reports. [Section 10]
The duty of public bodies to prepare a scheme detailing the services that they will provide:
- through the medium of Irish,
- through the medium of English, and
- through Irish and English;
- and the measures to be adopted to ensure that any service not provided by the body
through the medium of the Irish language will be so provided in the future (within a timeframe to be agreed - in effect, distinguishing between such services to be provided in lifetime of the current scheme and those to be addressed in a longer timeframe). [Section 11]
Guidelines will be prepared to assist public bodies in the drafting of a scheme. [Section 12]
The duty of public bodies to ensure that:
- an adequate number of its staff are competent in the Irish language [Section 13 (2 (c)]
- the particular Irish language requirements associated with the provision of services in Gaeltacht areas are met. [Section 13 (2 (d))]
- the Irish language becomes the working language in its offices situated in the Gaeltacht areas within a certain timeframe to be agreed between the public body and the Minister . [Section 13 (2)(e]
The establishment of Oifig Choimisinéir na dTeangacha Oifigiúla to supervise and monitor the Act and to ensure that it is implemented. The Commissioner will be known as An Coimisinéir Teanga. The Commissioner will be independent in the performance of his or her functions and will be appointed by the President. [Section 20]
Official placenames in Gaeltacht areas being in the Irish language only and equal status being given to the Irish and English language versions of official placenames in other parts of the country. (Part 5)
The assigning of general responsibility to the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs in regard to ensuring the delivery of State services through Irish. [Section 3, 4, 5, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17] .